首页
登录
职称英语
The English language exists in a condition of everlasting danger, its Ameri
The English language exists in a condition of everlasting danger, its Ameri
游客
2024-10-06
1
管理
问题
The English language exists in a condition of everlasting danger, its American branch most particularly, assaulted as it is from all sides by those who would reduce it to puzzling and obscure jargon, pop-psychological nonsense and vague beautified words, but it is not without its defenders①. Ken Smith, author of Junk English, is the leading figure. He begins with a brief and clear declaration:
"Junk English is much more than loose and casual grammar. It is a signal of human weaknesses and cultural license: abandoning the language of the educated yet giving birth to its own self-glorifying words and phrases, favoring appearance over substance, broadness over precision, and loudness above all. It is some times innocent, sometimes lazy, sometimes well intended, but most often it is a trick we play on ourselves to make the unremarkable seem important. Its scope has been widened by politicians, business executives, and the PR and advertising industries in their employ, who use it to spread fog before facts they would rather keep hidden. The result is...a world of humbug in which the more we read and hear, the less we know."
Smith is, of course, saying something not true—it is difficult to imagine that Junk English will be noticed, much less read, by those who most could profit from it—but it is an instructive and entertaining instructions and explanation all the same. He tries his hands at all the right places—jargon, clichés, euphemisms, and exaggeration—but he doesn’t swing blindly. "Although jargon often sounds ugly to outsiders, it speeds communication within the community that uses it"—and that "clichés, though popular objects of scorn, are useful when they most compactly express an idea; deliberate avoidance of an appropriate cliché sometimes produces even worse writing."
In other words, Smith may be passionate but he’s also sensible. In a section about "free-for-all verbs," for example, he acknowledges that "There is no law against inventing one’s own verbs" before citing a few funny instances of what happens when "Things get a little out of hand," i.e. "We’re efforting to work this out" or "She tried to guilt him into returning the money." In the end, though, being sensible about language is in essence trying to insist that words mean what they properly mean and are used accordingly. Thus, for example, Smith insists that "dialogue" and "discussion" are not synonyms and should not be used interchangeably; that "complimentary" does not mean "free"; that "experience" does not mean "feel"; that "facilitate" does not mean "ease’; that "generate" does not mean "produce"; that "lifestyle’’ does not mean "life".
Smith obviously has spent a lot of time making notes about the ways in which we ruin and abuse our language, with results that are impressive in their thoroughness and depressing in their going to far②. Occasionally he overlooks the obvious—among euphemisms he mentions "customer care representative" but not "courtesy call," and among the previously mentioned palsy-walsy language he inexplicably overlooks "Your call is important to us"—but then, as he says at the outset, he intended to write a short book and as a result had to leave out many misdeeds. The ones he includes more than do the job. [br] What would the author do with Ken Smith’s Junk English?
选项
A、He would highly recommend it.
B、He would recommend it with strong reservation.
C、He is indifferent to it.
D、He would hold it up as trash.
答案
A
解析
综合推断题。作者在第一段中指出“it is not without defendes.”“Ken Smith...is the leading figure”,说Smith写《垃圾英语》是为了捍卫饱受糟蹋的英语,第三段第一句话中让it is an instructive and entertaining instruction and explanation,说它有教育意义、引人入胜;在第四段第一句话说 Smith may be passionate but he’s also sensible.;最后一
转载请注明原文地址:https://tihaiku.com/zcyy/3789264.html
相关试题推荐
Iftherewerenosubjunctive,English______mucheasiertolearn.A、couldhavebee
Thepatternsofspokenlanguageare______fromthoseofwriting.A、distinctB、dist
Languagebelongstoeachmemberofthesociety,tothecleaner______totheprofe
Mr.Brown’sconditionlooksveryseriousanditisdoubtfulifhewill______.A、p
IfyouhavereallybeenstudyingEnglishforsolong,it’sabouttimeyou______
Whohasn’twantedtomasternotjusttwolanguagesbut10?TakeGiuseppeMez
Whohasn’twantedtomasternotjusttwolanguagesbut10?TakeGiuseppeMez
Whohasn’twantedtomasternotjusttwolanguagesbut10?TakeGiuseppeMez
Whohasn’twantedtomasternotjusttwolanguagesbut10?TakeGiuseppeMez
Whohasn’twantedtomasternotjusttwolanguagesbut10?TakeGiuseppeMez
随机试题
CrossCulturalAdvertisingAsuccessfulcrossculturaladvertisingcampaignlarg
DidyouknowthatcarsandlighttrucksintheUnitedStatesemitmorecarbo
把收集到的原始质量数据按照一定的目的加以分类整理,再据此进行质量分析的质量分析图
与铸铁散热器相比,钢制散热器的特点是()。A.结构简单,热稳定性好 B.防腐
汉代画像砖在()地区发现最多。……绝大部分刻画了现实生活。A.四川 B.陕西
( )以日常经营中发生的事件和交易为对象,包括基金管理人的经理层和监控人员的活
A.白色B.淡红色C.淡黄色D.淡绿色E.淡蓝色儿科药品处方的颜色是
简述幼儿园一日生活的基本环节。
2005-16.青色与黑色的共同主病为 A.寒证、湿证、虚证B.寒证、痛
特种作业操作证应当定期复审。根据《特种作业人员安全技术培训考核管理规定》,关于特
最新回复
(
0
)