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
2017-12-11
61
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 counterculture 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 academic 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 nonstandard 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.
According to the last paragraph, "paper plates" is to "china" as
选项
A、temporary is to "permanent".
B、radical is to "conservative".
C、functional is to "artistic".
D、humble is to "noble".
答案
C
解析
推断题。根据第五段第二、三句可知,麦荷特先生并不觉得正式英语是不可或缺的,也 并没提出彻底的教育改革——他只是为那些“虽不实用却很美好的事物”的消逝而哀叹,如今 我们过多地用非正式英语去替代正式英语。这虽然令人惭愧,但已经无法避免。由此可知,作 者用“纸盘子”和“瓷盘子”来比喻正式英语的退化,联系上文可以推知,“纸盘子”指的是那些 “实用却不美好”的事物,即非正式英语;“瓷盘子”则是指那些“不实用却美好”的事物,即正 式英语,故选C项。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/fIBZ777K
0
考研英语一
相关试题推荐
TheaverageBritishpeoplegetsix-and-a-halfhours’sleepanight,accordingtotheSleepCouncil.Ithasbeenknownforsomet
Notsolongago,itwasthestuffofnightmares:youpickupthelandlinetelephoneandthere’snodialingtone.Nothing.Theph
Notsolongago,itwasthestuffofnightmares:youpickupthelandlinetelephoneandthere’snodialingtone.Nothing.Theph
Thenewsaboutvitaminskeepsgettingworse.Manystudiespublishedinthelastfewyearsshowsthatavarietyofpopularsupple
Inasweepingoverallinspectionofits$21billionMedicaidprogram,theFloridaLegislatureapprovedabilltoshiftnearlyth
Inasweepingoverallinspectionofits$21billionMedicaidprogram,theFloridaLegislatureapprovedabilltoshiftnearlyth
Inasweepingoverallinspectionofits$21billionMedicaidprogram,theFloridaLegislatureapprovedabilltoshiftnearlyth
Thisweek,inWashingtonandcitiesacrossthenation,immigrantadvocates,clergymembersandlaborandbusinessleadershaveb
【F1】RogerRosenblatt’sbookBlackFiction,inattemptingtoapplyliteraryratherthansociopoliticalcriteriatoitssubject,s
OnthenorthbankoftheOhioriversitsEvansville,Ind.,homeofDavidWilliams,52,andofariverboatcasino(aplacewhereg
随机试题
属于速效胰岛素制剂的是
周小妹因故意杀人被判处死刑,下级人民法院接到最高人民法院执行死刑命令后,发现周小妹正在怀孕,应当如何处理?
当工程质量未达到规定的标准和要求,存在的严重质量缺陷,对结构的使用和安全构成重大影响,且又无法通过修补处理的情况下,应()。
A公司销售一批商品给B公司,开出的增值税专用发票上注明的售价为10000元。增值税税额为1700元。该批商品的成本为8000元。货到后B公可发现商品质量不合格,要求在价格上给予39/6的折让。B公司提出的销售折让要求符合原合同的约定,A公司同意并办妥了相关
请认真阅读下列教材,并按要求作答。动作方法:预备姿势:并脚站立,两手握绳柄自然下垂。练习时,由体后向前摇绳,当绳子摇到前上方时,两臂迅速在体前交叉,同时向后快速抖腕(前臂外旋),两脚立即跳起,绳通过两脚再摇至头上方时交叉臂还原,用同样方法连续进
唯物主义和唯心主义是哲学上的两大基本派别,它们的根本分歧是()。
神经冲动在突触间传递的媒介是()
______属于组织过程资产。A.基础设施B.组织的经验学习系统C.组织劳务关系标准D.招聘、培养、使用和解聘的指导方针
有以下程序:#includeintf(intx){inty;if(x==0‖x==1)return(3);y=x*x—f(x一2);returny;main()
What’sthemainpurposeofthistalk?
最新回复
(
0
)