首页
登录
职称英语
In recent years criticisms have been voiced concerning sexist bias in the En
In recent years criticisms have been voiced concerning sexist bias in the En
游客
2024-09-29
31
管理
问题
In recent years criticisms have been voiced concerning sexist bias in the English language . It has been argued that some of the vocabulary and grammar we use reflects and reinforces a traditional view of the world as one in which men are dominant and women play a secondary role.
Take the word "chairman" , for example. While this can in fact apply to people of both sexes, it appears to some people to be male-oriented as it ends in "man". In the past people taking the role of chairman were exclusively male, and the word was obviously originally a compound of "chair" and "man". Many English speakers, however, have ceased to view this word as a compound and no more feel it to be composed of two units, "chair" and "man", than they perceive "cupboard" as composed of "cup" and "board". In addition the continued use of chairman might be defended on the grounds that the final syllable is pronounced /m’n/ rather than /msn/, just like the final syllable of woman. Despite such considerations other speakers take a contrary view and are sensitive to the components of which it is made up. They clearly perceive it as a title which perpetuates traditional ideas about the place of women in society. For this reason they seek to replace it with neutral terms such as "chairperson" or "chair" , so that it is now possible to ask questions such as; "Who is chair of the committee?"
Other changes advocated include the replacement of words such as "postman" , "fireman" and "policeman" with more clearly neutral terms such as "postal worker", "firefighter" and "police officer". There is, however, continuing controversy about how far such language changes should go. Should changes also be considered to traditional idioms such as "man in the street" and titles such as "Peking Man"? Wrhat about those words where the male meaning of "man" is no longer dominant, such as "manhandle"?
To the extent that changes have taken place, they have done so more in the written language and formal pronouncements than in everyday speech. You would be quite likely to read in the paper that "Postal workers are to receive a pay increase". But "Has the postman been?" would be most likely to be heard in informal conversation. Here "postman" remains firmly entrenched in popular usage.
The lack of a sex-neutral third-person singular in English has also attracted attention. How, for example, do we fill in the blank in the following sentence? "A good teacher always makes sure is well prepared for the lesson. " Traditionally, this would be filled in with "he". The male pronoun in such cases is clearly intended to refer to both sexes. It is still widely used in this way, but some people, especially women, dislike it. They may prefer to add the female pronoun to the male, as in " A good teacher always makes sure he or she is well prepared for the lesson". Some people, however, feel that this looks and sounds awkward. Another solution is to use the plural "they" for the singular; "A good teacher always makes sure they are well prepared for the lesson. " This is often heard in conversation, but is less frequent in formal written English. More cautious souls can avoid the problem altogether by rephrasing in the plural: " Good teachers always make sure they are well prepared for the lesson. "
The extent to which language reflects and shapes attitudes and behaviors is a matter of conjecture. Chinese, Japanese, Persian and Turkish do not make the kinds of sex distinctions English makes through its system of pronouns, but it would be difficult to maintain that males who speak these languages are less sexist than males who speak English! [br] What is the best title for the passage?
选项
A、The Place of Women in Society
B、He or She
C、Chairman or Chairwoman
D、Language and Sexist Bias
答案
D
解析
主旨题。从文章第一句“In recent years criticisms.have been voiced concerningsexist bias in the English language.”可以看出,该篇文章主要论述英语日常语言中的性别歧视问题,因此[D]是正确答案。[A]”女性在社会中的地位”文章有涉及,但是从语言的角度阐述的,因此不适合做文章的标题;[B]”他和她”是作为作者证明自己观点的例子出现的,也不合适做文章的标题;[C]与[B]的问题如出一辙,都只是举例。
转载请注明原文地址:https://tihaiku.com/zcyy/3779096.html
相关试题推荐
InrecentyearscriticismshavebeenvoicedconcerningsexistbiasintheEn
InrecentyearscriticismshavebeenvoicedconcerningsexistbiasintheEn
InrecentyearscriticismshavebeenvoicedconcerningsexistbiasintheEn
InrecentyearscriticismshavebeenvoicedconcerningsexistbiasintheEn
Whatisthebesttitleforthispassage?[br][originaltext]Recentlyafiv
Whatisthebesttitleforthispassage?[originaltext]Recentlyafive-year
IrecentlyreadtheOxford【C1】______oftheTolstoy’sWarandPeace,trans
IrecentlyreadtheOxford【C1】______oftheTolstoy’sWarandPeace,trans
IrecentlyreadtheOxford【C1】______oftheTolstoy’sWarandPeace,trans
IrecentlyreadtheOxford【C1】______oftheTolstoy’sWarandPeace,trans
随机试题
MymotherwasborninasmalltowninnorthernItaly.Shewasthreewhenher
HowtoGetOveraBreakup1.【T1】______yourdecisionIfit’syourdecision,
Itisatruthuniversallyacknowledgedthatamarriedwomaninpossessionof
[originaltext]Monarchbutterflies,thelargeoriginblackinsects,areacom
组织可通过控制压力源帮助员工进行压力管理的方法有()。A.改进领导者工作作风
对征收面广、流动性大、季节性强、税源零星分散的纳税人采用的征管形式是()。A
位于桥梁人行道的栏杆构造不符合的规定是()。A.从人行道顶面起,人行道栏杆
(2021年下半年真题)语文课上,张老师提出了一个具有挑战性的问题,引导学生积极
证券投资分析的基本要素有()。A:分析理论B:信息C:步骤D:方法
下列唯一被批准用于临床的选择性胆固醇吸收抑制剂是()A.瑞舒伐他汀 B.
最新回复
(
0
)