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
It’s often dangerous to generalize, but under threat, I would say that Americans are more "down the line. " They don’t hide thei
It’s often dangerous to generalize, but under threat, I would say that Americans are more "down the line. " They don’t hide thei
admin
2013-08-05
64
问题
It’s often dangerous to generalize, but under threat, I would say that Americans are more "down the line. " They don’t hide their hopes and fears. They applaud ambition and openly reward success. Brits are more comfortable with life’s losers. We embrace the underdog until it’s no longer the underdog. We like to bring authority down a peg or two. Americans say, "have a nice day" whether they mean it or not. Brits are terrified to say this. We tell ourselves it’s because we don’t want to sound insincere but I think it might be for the opposite reason. We don’t want to celebrate anything too soon. Failure and disappointment lurk around every corner. This is due to our upbringing. Americans are brought up to believe they can be the next president of the United States. Brits are told, "It won’t happen for you. "
There’s a received wisdom in the U. K. that Americans don’t get irony. This is of course not true.
But what is true is that they don’t use it all the time. It shows up in the smarter comedies but Americans don’t use it as much socially as Brits. We use it as liberally as prepositions in every day speech. We tease our friends. We use sarcasm as a shield and a weapon. We avoid sincerity until it’s absolutely necessary. We mercilessly take the piss out of people we like or dislike basically. And ourselves. This is very important. Our brashness and swagger is laden with equal portions of self-deprecation. This is our license to hand it out. This can sometimes be perceived as nasty if the recipients aren’t used to it. It isn’t. It’s almost a sign of affection if we like you, and ego bursting if we don’t. You just have to know which one it is.
I guess the biggest difference between the U. S. version and the U. K. version of The Office reflected this. We had to make Michael Scott a slightly nicer guy, with a rosier outlook to life. He could still be childish, and insecure, and even a bore, but he couldn’t be too mean. The irony is of course that I think David Brent’s dark descension and eventual redemption made him all the more compelling. But I think that’s a lot more palatable in Britain for the reasons already stated. Brits almost expect doom and gloom so to start off that way but then have a happy ending is an unexpected joy. Network America has to give people a reason to like you not just a reason to watch you. In Britain we stop watching things like Big Brother when the villain is evicted. We don’t want to watch a bunch of idiots having a good time. We want them to be as miserable as us. America rewards up front, on-your-sleeve niceness. A perceived wicked streak is somewhat frowned upon.
I never actively try to offend. That’s churlish, pointless and frankly too easy. But I believe you should say what you mean. Be honest. No one should ever be offended by truth. That way you’ll never have to apologize. I hate it when a comedian says, "Sorry for what I said. " You shouldn’t say it if you didn’t mean it and you should never regret anything you meant to do. As a comedian, I think my job isn’t just to make people laugh but also make them think. As a famous comedian, I also want a strict door policy on my club. Not everyone will like what I say or find it funny. And I wouldn’t have it any other way. There are enough comedians who try to please everyone as it is. Good luck to them, but that’s not my game, I’m afraid.
I’m not one of those people who think that comedy is your conscience taking a day off. My conscience never takes a day off and I can justify everything I do. There’s no line to be drawn in comedy in the sense that there are things you should never joke about. There’s nothing that you should never joke about, but it depends what that joke is. Comedy comes from a good or a bad place. The subject of a joke isn’t necessarily the target of the joke. You can make jokes about race without any race being the butt of the joke. Racism itself can be the butt, for example. When dealing with a so-called taboo subject, the angst and discomfort of the audience is what’s under the microscope. Our own preconceptions and prejudices are often what are being challenged. I don’t like racist jokes. Not because they are offensive. I don’t like them because they’re not funny. And they’re not funny because they’re not true. They are almost always based on a falsehood somewhere along the way, which ruins the gag for me. Comedy is an intellectual pursuit. Not a platform.
The word "butt" in the last paragraph probably means
选项
A、object.
B、point.
C、aspect.
D、field.
答案
A
解析
语义题。由题干直接定位至末段第七句和第八句。结合前一句的“The subject of a joke isn’t necessarily the target of the joke.”可以判断,这里butt与target含义相同,故[A]符合文意。虽然[B]、[C]和[D]都与joke这个话题有相关性,但与前面的target含义相去甚远,故排除。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/HzZO777K
0
专业英语八级
相关试题推荐
AccordingtoDr.Adams,whatdoesthetitleofhisbooksuggest?
______isthelargestcityandthechiefportoftheUnitedStates.
Intheschoolsofancienttimes,themostimportantexaminationswerespoken.Usuallythestudentsweresupposedtosaypoetrya
Inthelate1960smanypeopleinNorthAmericaturnedtheirattentiontoenvironmentalproblems,andnewsteel-and-glassskyscra
"Thelettucewaslonelywithouttomatoesandcucumbersforcompany"isanexampleof
Inwhichcountrywouldparentsoftenthreatentopunishchildrenbyleavingthemoutside?
中国是一个发展中国家,也是一个负责任的国家。中国愿意为推进合作共赢、实现可持续发展作出自己的贡献。中国保持经济快速健康发展,对全球经济及地区经济发展有利,改革开放20多年来,虫国经济年均增长9.4%,不仅成功解决了十几亿人的温饱问题,而且使中国人民的生活总
BritishEducationalSystem1.PrimaryandsecondaryeducationinBritain1)Childrengototheprimaryschoolattheageof(1)
我冒了严寒,回到相隔二千余里,别了二十余年的故乡去。时候既然是深冬,渐近故乡时,天气又阴晦了,冷风吹进船舱中,呜呜的响,从蓬隙向外一望,苍黄的天底下,远近横着几个萧索的荒村,没有一些活气。我的心禁不住悲凉起来了。啊!这不是我二十年来时时记得的故乡
Ofthefollowingnovels,______isMarkTwain’sfirstnovel.
随机试题
政府卫生事业行政管理事务的主要内容包括()
下列哪项不是原发性胆汁性肝硬化的诊断依据
低钾血症最初的表现为
市场经济存在的规律有()。
非流动性负债包括长期借款、应付股利和其他非流动性负债等。()
经出入境检验检疫机关检查考核其用于( )的场地,符合规定的防疫条件的发给注册登记证。并应向检验检疫机关提出申请办理检疫审批手续,
深圳证券交易所股价指数有()。
下列测验中,属于投射测验的是
HDLC是一种数据链路控制协议,它是一种(117)协议。
Lookatthenotesbelow.Someinformationismissing.Youwillhearatelephonetalkontravelarrangements.Foreachquestion9
最新回复
(
0
)