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
In recent years criticisms have been voiced concerning sexist bias in the English language . It has been argued that some of the
In recent years criticisms have been voiced concerning sexist bias in the English language . It has been argued that some of the
admin
2014-07-20
88
问题
In recent years criticisms have been voiced concerning sexist bias in the English language . It has been argued that some of the vocabulary and grammar we use reflects and reinforces a traditional view of the world as one in which men are dominant and women play a secondary role.
Take the word "chairman" , for example. While this can in fact apply to people of both sexes, it appears to some people to be male-oriented as it ends in "man". In the past people taking the role of chairman were exclusively male, and the word was obviously originally a compound of "chair" and "man". Many English speakers, however, have ceased to view this word as a compound and no more feel it to be composed of two units, "chair" and "man", than they perceive "cupboard" as composed of "cup" and "board". In addition the continued use of chairman might be defended on the grounds that the final syllable is pronounced /m’n/ rather than /msn/, just like the final syllable of woman. Despite such considerations other speakers take a contrary view and are sensitive to the components of which it is made up. They clearly perceive it as a title which perpetuates traditional ideas about the place of women in society. For this reason they seek to replace it with neutral terms such as "chairperson" or "chair" , so that it is now possible to ask questions such as; "Who is chair of the committee?"
Other changes advocated include the replacement of words such as "postman" , "fireman" and "policeman" with more clearly neutral terms such as "postal worker", "firefighter" and "police officer". There is, however, continuing controversy about how far such language changes should go. Should changes also be considered to traditional idioms such as "man in the street" and titles such as "Peking Man"? Wrhat about those words where the male meaning of "man" is no longer dominant, such as "manhandle"?
To the extent that changes have taken place, they have done so more in the written language and formal pronouncements than in everyday speech. You would be quite likely to read in the paper that "Postal workers are to receive a pay increase". But "Has the postman been?" would be most likely to be heard in informal conversation. Here "postman" remains firmly entrenched in popular usage.
The lack of a sex-neutral third-person singular in English has also attracted attention. How, for example, do we fill in the blank in the following sentence? "A good teacher always makes sure is well prepared for the lesson. " Traditionally, this would be filled in with "he". The male pronoun in such cases is clearly intended to refer to both sexes. It is still widely used in this way, but some people, especially women, dislike it. They may prefer to add the female pronoun to the male, as in " A good teacher always makes sure he or she is well prepared for the lesson". Some people, however, feel that this looks and sounds awkward. Another solution is to use the plural "they" for the singular; "A good teacher always makes sure they are well prepared for the lesson. " This is often heard in conversation, but is less frequent in formal written English. More cautious souls can avoid the problem altogether by rephrasing in the plural: " Good teachers always make sure they are well prepared for the lesson. "
The extent to which language reflects and shapes attitudes and behaviors is a matter of conjecture. Chinese, Japanese, Persian and Turkish do not make the kinds of sex distinctions English makes through its system of pronouns, but it would be difficult to maintain that males who speak these languages are less sexist than males who speak English!
The idiom "man in the street" in Paragraph 3 means______.
选项
A、a tramp
B、an idiot
C、a passing traveler
D、an average person
答案
D
解析
语义题。man in the street的意思是“普通人”,所以[D]是正确答案。[A]”流浪者”、[B]”傻瓜”和[C]”过客”均与文意不符,故排除。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/fPTK777K
0
专业英语四级
相关试题推荐
【C1】______peopledon’twakeupinthemorning,combtheirhair,and【C2】______thefrontdoorand【C3】______theworldstage.ButBr
TheInternetappealstoshoppersinthat
Thelittlegirlwassofrightenedthatshejustwouldn’t______hergriponmyarm.
SevenExcusesNottoGotoCollegeThinkcollegeisforotherkids,andnotforyou?Wrong.Don’tgiveuponcollegebefore
______shouldnotbecomeaseriousdisadvantageinlifeandwork.(2010年考试真题)
Nolongerarecontributionstocomputertechnologyconfinedtoanyonecountry;______isthismoretruethaninEurope.
ThegovernmentofTogocallbackitsfootballteamfromtheAfricancupofnationsinAngolaafter
Islanguage,likefood,abasichumanneedwithoutwhichachildatacriticalperiodoflifecanbestarvedanddamaged?(1)____
Evertryandgetatwo-year-oldtopickuptrash?Thiswasourgoalthispastweekendonaglorious,clearSaturday,themorning
Totellyouthetruth,Icannothelpbut______hiscourageandwisdomafterIheardofhisstories.
随机试题
电路如图3所示,二极管D1,D2,D3均为理想元件,则输出电压u0为_________。
DNA复制所需要的能量来源是
“阴在内,阳之守也;阳在外,阴之使也”是说明()
根据《环境影响评价技术导则一地面水环境》,关于水质取样垂线布设的说法,错误的是()。
甲公司为居民企业,2014年有关收支情况如下:(1)取得销售货物收入4300万元、理财产品收益30万元、从事直接投资的未上市居民企业分回股息收益270万元、出售闲置厂房收入400万元。(2)按规定提取的折旧费用180万元,其中机器设备折旧费50万元、运
学校教育制度是我国教育制度的主要部分,是按照受教育者的身心发展规律而系统实施的,具体包括()四个阶段
甲对乙使用暴力,欲将其打残。乙慌忙掏出手机准备报警,甲一把夺过手机装进裤袋并将乙打成重伤。甲在离开现场五公里后,把乙价值7000元的手机扔进水沟。甲的行为构成
GooglealreadyhasawindowintooursoulsthroughourInternetsearchesanditnowhasinsightintoourailingbodiestoo.The
在Excel中,假设单元格A1、A2、B1和B2内容如下图所示,在C1中输入公式“=$AS1+SB$1”并将公式复制到C2,那么C2的内容为(5)。
A、Asmallplacewithaniceviewofthecity.B、AspaciousapartmentthatincludescableTV.C、Anapartmentdowntownwithfreep
最新回复
(
0
)