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
63
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
CharacteristicsofAmericanCultureⅠ.punctualityA.Goingtothetheater:be【1】twentyminutespriorB.Eateries’responsef
Clearlyifwearetoparticipateinthesocietyinwhichwelivewemustcommunicatewiththeotherpeople.Agreatdealofcomm
Insixteenth-centuryItalyandeighteenth-centuryFrance,waningprosperityandincreasingsocialunrestledtherulingfamilies
AimlessnesshashardlybeentypicalofthepostwarJapanwhoseproductivityandsocialharmonyaretheenvyoftheUnitedStates
TheessenceoftheParisPeaceConferencewas______.
大自然对人的恩赐,无论贫富,一律平等。所以人们对于大自然,全都一致并深深地依赖着。尤其在乡间,上千年来人们一直以不变的方式生活着。种植庄稼和葡萄,酿酒和饮酒,喂牛和挤奶,锄草和栽花;在周末去教堂祈祷和做礼拜,在节日到广场拉琴、跳舞和唱歌;往日的田园依旧是今
Ofthefollowingnovels,______isMarkTwain’sfirstnovel.
MorethanhalfofthepopulationofNewZealandaffiliatewitha______religion.
Thewomanthinkstheimportantthingforinsomniouspeopleisthat
Bookspossessanessenceofimmortality.Theyarebyfarthemostlastingproductsofhumaneffort.Templesandstatuesdecay,b
随机试题
简述社会救助对象的范围。
背景资料:某新建铁路桥梁工程一标段共有595孔32m简支整孔箱梁,分布于23座桥上。其中1号特大桥的30孔箱梁采用移动模架施工,其他采用预制架设施工。制梁场场地宽阔平整:制梁采用固定式外模和整体式内模,并按1:1配置;存梁采用单层存梁方
只要把振动信号输入到(),便可将其中的不同频率成分区分开来。
乙公司生产M产品,采用标准成本法进行成本管理。月标准总工时为23400小时,月标准变动制造费用总额为84240元。工时标准为2.2小时/件。假定乙公司本月实际生产M产品7500件,实际耗用总工时15000小时,实际发生变动制造费用57000元。
丽水市的名山不包括()。
社会工作者小倩在小组活动中,促进组员之间的沟通,使他们相互认识和熟悉,订立小组契约和规范,以此增加小组安全感和信任感。小倩介入的焦点有()
品德评价法通常包括_____、批评惩罚和_____等方式。
进程出现饥饿现象是指()。
【B1】【B4】
12ThingsI’veLearnedFromTravelingAroundtheWorldforThreeYearsOnMarch13,2007,Ihandedoverthekeystomyhouse
最新回复
(
0
)