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
2019-05-26
96
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 counter-culture 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 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 non-standard 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.
选项
A、is inevitable in radical education reforms
B、is but all too natural in language development
C、has caused the controversy over the counter-culture
D、brought about changes in public attitudes in the 1960s
答案
B
解析
推理题。根据第二段最后一句可知。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/QQnZ777K
0
考研英语一
相关试题推荐
AlthoughtherearemanyskillfulBraillereaders,thousandsofotherblindpeoplefinditdifficulttolearnthatsystem.Theya
Whenshopkeeperswanttolurecustomersintobuyingaparticularproduct,theytypicallyofferitatadiscount.Accordingtoa
Industrialism,atleastwithinourexperienceofitformorethan200years,never【B1】______apointofequilibriumoralevel
Writeanessayof160—200wordsbasedonthefollowingdrawing.Inyouressay,youshould1)describethedrawingbriefly,
Directions:Writealettertoyouruniversitylibrary,makingsuggestionsforimprovingitsservice.Youshouldwriteabout
ForthousandsofCanadians,badserviceisneithermake-believenoramusing.Itisanaggravatingandworseningreal-lifephenom
ForthousandsofCanadians,badserviceisneithermake-believenoramusing.Itisanaggravatingandworseningreal-lifephenom
Writeanessaybasedonthefollowinggraph.Inyouressay,youshould1)interpretthegraph,and2)giveyourcomments.
CigarettesmokingisahealthhazardofsufficientimportanceintheUnitedStates.Itwas50yearsagothismonththatAmerica’
Thegreatrecessionmaybeover,butthiseraofhighjoblessnessisprobablybeginning.Beforeitends,itwilllikelychanget
随机试题
急性胰腺炎的非手术治疗有哪些?
患者男,46岁。脊髓损伤,双上肢肩关节可自主活动,手关节不能自主活动,双下肢迟缓性瘫痪一级护理。患者可能损伤的脊髓节段为
根据干扰素的性质,可将干扰素分成两种类型:Ⅰ型和Ⅱ型。Ⅱ型干扰素的主要功能是()
案情:位于某市甲区的天南公司与位于乙区的海北公司签订合同,约定海北公司承建天南公司位于丙区的新办公楼,合同中未约定仲裁条款。新办公楼施工过程中,天南公司与海北公司因工程增加工作量、工程进度款等问题发生争议。双方在交涉过程中通过电子邮件约定将争议提交某仲裁委
某企业本月营业收入为1515000元,营业外收入为100000元,投资收益为60000元,营业成本为760000元,营业税金及附加为30000元,营业外支出为80000元,管理费用为40000元,销售费用为30000元,财务费用为15000元,所得税费用为
青藏高原有“世界屋脊”之称,它的形成是由()碰撞引起的。
Americannolongerexpectpublicfigures,whetherinspeechorinwriting,tocommandtheEnglishlanguagewithskillandgift.
[*]
在计算机领域中通常用MIPS来描述
Althoughmostdreamsapparentlyhappen______,dreamactivitymaybeprovokedbyexternalinfluence.
最新回复
(
0
)