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  3. The use of deferential language is symbolic of the Confucian ideal of the woman, which dominates conservative gender norms in Ja

The use of deferential language is symbolic of the Confucian ideal of the woman, which dominates conservative gender norms in Ja

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问题     The use of deferential language is symbolic of the Confucian ideal of the woman, which dominates conservative gender norms in Japan. This ideal presents a woman who withdraws quietly to the background, subordinating her life and needs to those of her family and its male head. She is a dutiful daughter, wife, and mother, master of the domestic arts. The typical refined Japanese woman excels in modesty and delicacy; she "treads softly in the word," elevating feminine beauty and grace to an art form.
    Nowadays, it is commonly observed that young women are not conforming to the feminine linguistic ideal. They are using fewer of the very deferential "women’s" forms, and even using the few strong forms that are known as "men’s." This, of course, attracts considerable attention and has led to an outcry in the Japanese media against the defeminization of women’s language. Indeed, we didn’t hear about "men’s language" until people began to respond to girls’ appropriation of forms normally reserved for boys and men. There is considerable sentiment about the "corruption" of women’s language—which of course is viewed as part of the loss of feminine ideals and morality—and this sentiment is crystallized by nationwide opinion polls that are regularly carried out by the media.
    Yoshiko Matsumoto has argued that young women probably never used as many of the highly deferential forms as older women. This highly polite style is no doubt something that young women have been expected to "grow into"—after all, it is a sign not simply of femininity, but of maturity and refinement, and its use could be taken to indicate a change in the nature of one’s social relations as well. One might well imagine little girls using exceedingly polite forms when playing house or imitating older women—in a fashion analogous to little girls’ use of a high-pitched voice to do "teacher talk" or "mother talk" in role play.
    The fact that young Japanese women are using less deferential language is a sure sign of change—of social change and of linguistic change. But it is most certainly not a sign of the "masculinization" of girls. In some instances, it may be a sign that girls are making the same claim to authority as boys and men, but that is very different from saying that they are trying to be "masculine." Katsue Reynolds has argued that girls nowadays are using more assertive language strategies in order to be able to compete with boys in schools and out. Social change also brings not simply different positions for women and girls, but different relations to life stages, and adolescent girls are participating in new subcultural forms. Thus what may, to an older speaker, seem like "masculine" speech may seem to an adolescent like "liberated" or "hip" speech.
What change has been observed in today’s young Japanese women?
选项 A、They pay less attention to their linguistic behavior.
B、They use fewer of the deferential linguistic forms.
C、They confuse male and female forms of language.
D、They hate very strong linguistic expressions.
答案B
解析 本题关键词是change和today’s young Japanese，women，定位到第二段。第二段第二句话提到，她们越来越少地使用非常谦恭的“女性”用语(very deferential "women’s" forms)，甚至(even)会使用少许带有强烈“男性色彩”的用语。选项B与此属于相同含义，是正确选项。从第二句话还可以看出，日本年轻女性并非很少关注自己的语言行为，而是在语言的性别色彩上做出了改变，选项A属于正反混淆。同样由此句可以看出她们并没有混淆男性和女性的语言形式，相反还很清楚，所以选项C也属于正反混淆。此句提到(她们)甚至会用少许(few)带有强烈“男性色彩”的用语，few的意思是非常少，但不能由此推断她们讨厌很强硬的语言表达风格，选项D属于主观推导。
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