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
外语
In recent years criticisms have been voiced concerning sexist bias in the English language . It has been argued that some of the
In recent years criticisms have been voiced concerning sexist bias in the English language . It has been argued that some of the
admin
2014-07-20
40
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!
To what extent does the language reflect and shape attitudes and behaviors?
选项
A、They are closely related.
B、It is a matter of conjecture.
C、They have nothing to do with each other.
D、Only in English they are closely related.
答案
B
解析
细节题。从文章最后一段首句“The extent to which language reflects and shapesattitudes and behaviors is a matter of conjecture.”可以看出,语言在某种程度上反映和塑造讲话者的态度和举止只是一种推测,所以[B]是正确答案。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/8PTK777K
0
专业英语四级
相关试题推荐
Shynessisapsychologicalstatethatcausesapersontofeeldiscomfortinsocialsituationsinwaysthatinterferewithenjoym
______hisindividuality,apersoncanexpecttoproducenothingbutcopiesofothers’work.
Whatisthispassagemainlyabout?
Howshouldcheerleadingbeviewedaccordingtothepassage?
Ofcourse,mostimmigrantsdidnotgetrichovernight,butthe______ofthemwereeventuallyabletoimproveupontheirformer
Newandbizarrecrimeshavecomeintobeingwiththeadventofcomputertechnology.Organizedcrimetohasbeendirectlyinvolve
Herearethethreemostcommonmistakeslanguagelearnersmake—andhowtocorrectthem.RigidthinkingLinguistshavefound
Childrenareinneedofadoptionbecausesomebirthparentsareunableorunavailabletoprovideadequatelyfortheneedsofthe
SputnikIwasthefirstartificialsatellite.Itcanbedescribedasanaluminum(1)______withadiameterof58centimetersand
ACubandiplomatwasdeportedfromtheUnitedStateslastweekendfor______.
随机试题
设y=y(χ)是微分方程y〞+(χ-1)y′+χ2y=eχ满足初始条件y(0)=0,y′(0)=1的解,则为().
肱骨外科颈骨折合并肩关节脱位,在检查时可发现
慢性支气管炎临床稳定期,预防急性发作的下列方法中哪项不正确
关于破产财产的分配,下列说法不正确的是:()
【2009年】注册会计师组织项目组内部讨论的内容有()。
以太网在检测到()次冲突后,控制器会放弃发送数据。
【2012年临沂市】义务教育具有强制性、免费性和()。
加快建设节约型社会的重要战略意义()。
某企业接到生产某产品的订单,每台产品需要A,B,C三种部件的数量分别为2,2,1件。已知每个工人每天可生产A部件6件,或B部件3件,或C部件2件。该企业计划安排200名工人分成三组分别生产这三种部件.则每天最多可生产多少台产品?
当代资本主义国家在经济调节机制变化的同时。经济危机形态也发生了变化,主要表现在
最新回复
(
0
)