首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
考研
Americans no longer expect public figures, whether in speech or in writing, to command the English language with skill and gift.
Americans no longer expect public figures, whether in speech or in writing, to command the English language with skill and gift.
admin
2017-12-11
62
问题
Americans no longer expect public figures, whether in speech or in writing, to command the English language with skill and gift. Nor do they aspire to such command themselves. In his latest book, Doing Our Own Thing: The Degradation of Language and Music and Why We Should, Like, Care, John McWhorter, a linguist and controversialist of mixed liberal and conservative views, sees the triumph of 1960s counterculture as responsible for the decline of formal English.
Blaming the permissive 1960s is nothing new, but this is not yet another criticism against the decline in education. Mr. McWhorter’ s academic speciality is language history and change, and he sees the gradual disappearance of "whom", for example, to be natural and no more regrettable than the loss of the case-endings of Old English.
But the cult of the authentic and the personal, "doing our own thing", has spelt the death of formal speech, writing, poetry and music. While even the modestly educated sought an elevated tone when they put pen to paper before the 1960s, even the most well regarded writing since then has sought to capture spoken English on the page. Equally, in poetry, the highly personal, performative genre is the only form that could claim real liveliness. In both oral and written English,
talking
is triumphing over speaking, spontaneity over craft.
Illustrated with an entertaining array of examples from both high and low culture, the trend that Mr. McWhorter documents is unmistakable. But it is less clear, to take the question of his subtitle, why we should, like, care. As a linguist, he acknowledges that all varieties of human language, including nonstandard ones like Black English, can be powerfully expressive—there exists no language or dialect in the world that cannot convey complex ideas. He is not arguing, as many do, that we can no longer think straight because we do not talk proper.
Russians have a deep love for their own language and carry large chunks of memorized poetry in their heads, while Italian politicians tend to elaborate speech that would seem old-fashioned to most English-speakers. Mr. McWhorter acknowledges that formal language is not strictly necessary, and proposes no radical education reforms—he is really grieving over the loss of something beautiful more than useful. We now take our English "on paper plates instead of china". A shame, perhaps, but probably an inevitable one.
The description of Russians’ love of memorizing poetry shows the author’s
选项
A、interest in their language.
B、appreciation of their efforts.
C、admiration for their memory.
D、contempt for their old-fashionedness.
答案
B
解析
推断题。根据第五段的内容,作者首先描述了俄罗斯人爱好背诵诗歌以及意大利的政客 们倾向于精心准备演讲。作者用这些例子来说明以下观点,即“麦荷特为那些虽不实用却很美 好的事物的消逝而哀叹”。经过分析得知,在作者的眼里,“俄罗斯人爱好背诵诗歌”和“意大利 的政客精心准备演讲”都属于这些“虽不实用却很美好的事物”。由此可以推知,作者对俄罗斯 人的做法是抱着欣赏态度的,表达的是对美好事物消逝的哀叹,故选B项。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/5IBZ777K
0
考研英语一
相关试题推荐
Peoplehavebeenholdingheateddiscussionsrecentlyaboutwomen’sexperienceintheworkplace.LastmonthSherylSandberg,chie
Ifyouhavehighbloodpressure,you’reingood【C1】______.Hypertensionaffects67millionAmericans,includingnearlytwo-third
Notsolongago,itwasthestuffofnightmares:youpickupthelandlinetelephoneandthere’snodialingtone.Nothing.Theph
Itonlytakestenminutes,butreadingyourbabyabedtimestorycouldyieldbenefitsforyearstocome,scientistssaidtoday.
Acandlelitdinnerworkswondersforromance.Nowscientistssayitcouldalsobegoodforyourheart.Breathingincandlesmoke
Acandlelitdinnerworkswondersforromance.Nowscientistssayitcouldalsobegoodforyourheart.Breathingincandlesmoke
Acandlelitdinnerworkswondersforromance.Nowscientistssayitcouldalsobegoodforyourheart.Breathingincandlesmoke
SupposeyouareinvitedbyProfessorWilliamstogiveapresentationaboutChineseculturetoagroupofinternationalstudents.
OnthenorthbankoftheOhioriversitsEvansville,Ind.,homeofDavidWilliams,52,andofariverboatcasino(aplacewhereg
(2006年考试真题)OnthenorthbankoftheOhioriversitsEvansville,Ind.,homeofDavidWilliams,52,andofariverboatcasino
随机试题
心肌闰盘所含有的细胞连接哪项是错误的()
肝素不具有以下何种作用
盒中有5个球,其中3个白球,2个黑球,有放回地取两次,每次取一个,求取到白球数X的均值及方差.
海绵窦内段颈内动脉与海绵窦内颅神经的比邻关系
质量数据就其本身的特性来说,可以分为()。
下列关于城市分散发展理论的陈述错误的是()。
下列说法正确的是()。
赵某于2001年外出打工,遇意外一直未归。2007年其妻子钱某不得已向法院申请宣告其死亡。赵某有两个孩子,分别为赵甲和赵乙。赵某夫妇有房屋6间,拖拉机一辆(已经随赵某失踪而灭失)。法院依法作出宣告死亡判决后,赵某留下的遗产开始继承。房屋一间由其父继承,其余
2004年12月3日至5日,中央经济工作会议召开,为2005年继续加强和改善宏观调控而做出的重要部署是
某二叉树的前序序列为ABDFHCEG,中序序列为HFDBACEG。该二叉树按层次输出(同一层从左到右)的序列为
最新回复
(
0
)