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
2017-01-17
49
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 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.
The word "talking" (Para. 3) denotes
选项
A、modesty.
B、personality.
C、liveliness.
D、informality.
答案
D
解析
含义题。根据第三段第一句可知,“走自己的路”这一对事物真实性和个人性的崇高信条,已经使正式演讲、写作、诗歌及音乐消亡了,即正式英语已经在退化了。最后一句指出,无论是在书面还是在口语英语中,talking要胜过speaking,spontaneity(即兴发挥)也要胜过craft(精心准备)。由此可知,talking之于speaking就类似于spontaneity和craft的对比,“即兴发挥”就是使用非正式的语言,“精心准备”代表使用正式的语言。因此talking与speaking的对比也就是非正式和正式英语语言应用的对比,talking代表的就是非正式英语,故选D项。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/hQEZ777K
0
考研英语一
相关试题推荐
About3billionpeoplelivewithin100miles(160km)ofthesea,anumberthatcoulddoubleinthenextdecadeashumansflockt
Ifyouhavehighbloodpressure,you’reingood【C1】______.Hypertensionaffects67millionAmericans,includingnearlytwo-third
Childrenneedexercise.Parentsoftenworrythat【C1】______timeforathleticsorevenforjustplayingontheJungleJimis
Childrenneedexercise.Parentsoftenworrythat【C1】______timeforathleticsorevenforjustplayingontheJungleJimis
TheEU’sclimatechiefisseekingtoextendthebloc’srenewableenergytargets,inamoveapparentlydesignedtoprotectthegr
TheEU’sclimatechiefisseekingtoextendthebloc’srenewableenergytargets,inamoveapparentlydesignedtoprotectthegr
TheEU’sclimatechiefisseekingtoextendthebloc’srenewableenergytargets,inamoveapparentlydesignedtoprotectthegr
历史研究的方法论——1999年英译汉及详解【F1】Whiletherearealmostasmanydefinitionsofhistoryastherearehistorians,modernpracticemostc
Comeon—Everybody’sdoingit.Thatwhisperedmessage,halfinvitationandhalfforcing,iswhatmostofusthinkofwhenwehear
随机试题
负债账户的贷方登记()
患者,男性,60岁。主诉四肢远端呈手套、袜套样感觉减退。该患者属于
在投资项目决策分析与评价中,通过市场预测解决的主要问题包括()。
会计账户是根据()分别设置的。
下列有关前后任注册会计师沟通的总体要求的说法中,错误的是()。
数字出版产品的维护工作分为()两部分。
脱贫攻坚的重大胜利,为实现第一个百年奋斗目标打下了坚实基础,极大增强了人民群众获得感、幸福感、安全感,彻底改变了贫困地区的面貌,改善了生产生活条件,提高了群众生活质量,“两不愁三保障”全面实现。以下习近平总书记的“金句”与脱贫攻坚无直接相关的是:
在Windows2003系统下DHCP服务器中添加排除时,应输入的信息是()。
TheBritishMuseum
A、Theytriedtomakethetransplantingmoresafe.B、Theyshiftedtheirattentionto"nonessential"partsofthebody.C、Theyfoc
最新回复
(
0
)