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
Humour is probably the hardest commodity to export. Jokes that make one country laugh out loud are likely to leave another natio
Humour is probably the hardest commodity to export. Jokes that make one country laugh out loud are likely to leave another natio
admin
2010-01-15
78
问题
Humour is probably the hardest commodity to export. Jokes that make one country laugh out loud are likely to leave another nation confused and silent. But humour can also be very revealing, if not always funny. After all, jokes are often just another way of expressing anxieties, fears and even prejudices.
In Britain, one of the most enduring types of humour is satire. This is the art of making fun of people in positions of power--politicians, celebrities and even royalty--in order to draw attention to their faults.
While satire is not uniquely British, it does have a special appeal in Britain, and one of the best examples of this is the success of the satirical magazine Private Eye. This magazine has been poking fun at "the great and the good" in British public life for the last 35 years, and its victims admit to reading it and laughing with it.
One of the magazine’s former contributors, Auberon Waugh, believes the "Eye" is successful because it repeats the best jokes over and over again. "You go back and make the same jokes with a new twist every time, so you are, by the end, talking a private language, and I think readers like that." He goes on to say that "Americans come to London and claim to enjoy Private Eye, yet they can’t understand a word of it."
But it is not only Americans who have difficulties understanding the "Eye". Its esoteric sense of humour and sometimes oblique references to British news mean that only those people who closely follow the news benefit from the jokes. This is why the magazine has practically no buyers overseas even though each issue sells 180,000 copies in Britain.
The editor of the "Eye", Ian Hislop, explains how they choose their targets. "Anybody who--in the words of a very old English satirist--is guilty of vice, folly or humbug. That’s them." The Royal Family is always a favourite target. One cartoon strip called "Liz" portrayed them as a rough, working class family from northern England.
Over the years Private Eye has paid the price for criticising the powerful and has been successfully sued several times. Ian Hislop says there are still "ten or 12" libel writs outstanding. But some say the magazine is not as cutting or even as funny as it used to be. They say it is too incestuous, featuring too much gossip about journalists and not enough hard-hitting satire. So are Ian Hislop and his gang in danger of becoming part of the establishment they claim to expose?
Which of the following makes it difficult for foreigners to understand Private Eye?
选项
A、Making the same jokes with different words.
B、Writing jokes in a regional dialect of English.
C、Fooling the powerful.
D、Referring to the local news of Britain.
答案
D
解析
第五段谈为什么外国人难以理解Private Eye中的文章,原因是它运用了一种不易被人领会的幽默,并且经常和英国当地新闻间接有关,因此选D。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/HQnK777K
0
专业英语四级
相关试题推荐
(1)Thisfishingvillageof1,480peopleisableakandlonelyplace.SetonthesouthwesternedgeofIceland,thevolcanicla
PASSAGEONEWhatdo"promise"and"should"inPara.2implyabouttheauthor’svisionofAustralia’seconomy?
PASSAGETHREEWhatisthenameofanothercapsule?
(1)Whichwouldyouprefertobe:amedievalmonarchoramodernoffice-worker?Thekinghasarmiesofservants.Hewearsthe
Aspeopleage,thebrainchangesinbothgoodwaysandbad. Ifyouareover20,yourcognitiveperformanceisprobablyalrea
CommunicatingwithStrangersI.Theconceptofthestrangerandthedefinitionofstrangeness:A.Strangenessandfamiliarity
TwoIranianguardshavebeenexpelledbecausethey_______.
TheStoneAgewasaperiodofhistorywhichbeganinapproximately2millionB.C.andlasteduntil3000B.C.Itsnamewasderive
Howlonghastheprotestlastedaccordingtothenews?
______,themanjumpedintotherivertosavethedrowningchild.
随机试题
求在[0,1]上的最大值和最小值.
某钟表店推出一款新手表,标签上标明:天然钻石手表。甲购得后,送有关部门鉴定,结论是人造钻石手表。依据我国《合同法》,甲可以()
增加小麦出粉率,主要影响哪种营养素的营养价值
吐温类表面活性剂溶血作用强弱的顺序是
以下何者不是“典雅主义”的代表人物?
用波长为5.0×10-7m的单色光垂直照射双缝,若知两缝之间的距离为0.5×10-3m,双缝与屏之间的距离为1.2m,则测得此双缝干涉实验中屏幕上方第五级明条纹离中央明条纹中心点的距离为()。
某设备安装工程,由于设备制造原因试车达不到合同约定的验收要求,则()。
【背景资料】某高架桥工程,其中有三跨为普通钢筋混凝土连续梁,需现场浇筑,跨径组合为30m+40m+30m,桥宽18m,桥下净高9m。模板支架在已经上一级批准的施工组织设计中有详细的专项设计。项目经理为节约成本,就地取材,使用了附近工程
安定的住房,是尊严的前提,幸福的第一步。城市如果要让生活更美化,就要从让每个人都住有所居开始。但住房问题又是城市最大的挑战,“房荒是城市特有的问题”。恩格斯1872年的名著《论住宅问题》就提出住房问题的根源是城市和城乡发展不平衡的问题。城市化和工业化带来人
Everyyeartelevisionstationsreceivehundredsofcomplaintsabouttheloudnessofadvertisements.However,federalrulesforbi
最新回复
(
0
)