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
St. Paul didn’t like it. Moses warned his people against it. Hesiod declared it "mischievous" and "hard to get rid of it," but O
St. Paul didn’t like it. Moses warned his people against it. Hesiod declared it "mischievous" and "hard to get rid of it," but O
admin
2012-12-01
27
问题
St. Paul didn’t like it. Moses warned his people against it. Hesiod declared it "mischievous" and "hard to get rid of it," but Oscar Wilde said, "Gossip is charming." "History is merely gossip," he wrote in one of his famous plays. But scandal is gossip made tedious by morality.
In times past, under Jewish law, gossipmongers might be fined or flogged. The Puritans put them in stocks or ducking stools, but no punishment seemed to have the desired effect of preventing gossip, which has continued uninterrupted across the back fences of the centuries.
Today, however, the much-maligned human foible is being looked at in a different light. Psychologists, sociologists, philosophers, even evolutionary biologists are concluding that gossip may not be so bad after all.
Gossip is "an intrinsic valuable activity," philosophy professor Aaron Ben-Zee states in a book he has edited, entitled Good Gossip. For one thing, gossip helps us acquire information that we need to know that doesn’t come through ordinary channels, such as: "What was the real reason so-and-so was fired from the office?" Gossip also is a form of social bonding, Dr. Ben-Zee says. It is "a kind of sharing" that also "satisfies the tribal need—namely, the need to belong to and be accepted by a unique group." What’s more, the professor notes, "Gossip is enjoyable."
Another gossip groupie, Dr. Ronald De Sousa, a professor of philosophy at the University of Toronto, describes gossip basically as a form of indiscretion and a "saintly virtue", by which he means that the knowledge spread by gossip will usually end up being slightly beneficial. "It seems likely that a world in which all information were universally available would be preferable to a world where immense power resides in the control of secrets," he writes.
Still, everybody knows that gossip can have its ill effects, especially on the poor wretch being gossiped about. And people should refrain from certain kinds of gossip that might be harmful, even though the ducking stool is long out of fashion.
By the way, there is also an interesting strain of gossip called medical gossip, which in its best form, according to researchers Jerry M. Sols and Franklin Goodwin, can motivate people with symptoms of serious illness, but who are unaware of it, to seek medical help.
So go ahead and gossip. But remember, if (as often is the case among gossipers) you should suddenly become one of the gossipers instead, it is best to employ the foolproof defense recommended by Plato, who may have learned the lesson from Socrates, who as you know was the victim of gossip spread that he was corrupting the youth of Athens: When men speak ill of thee, so live that nobody will believe them. Or, as Will Rogers said, "Live so that you wouldn’t be ashamed to sell the family parrot to the town gossip."
By saying "Gossip also is a form of social bonding" (Para. 5), Professor Aaron Ben-Zee means gossip______.
选项
A、is a valuable source of social information
B、produces a joy that most people in society need
C、brings people the feel of being part of a group
D、satisfies people’s need of being unusual
答案
C
解析
理解题。“social bonding”指的是社会联系,也就是归属感。只有C项指出了这一点。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/mUaO777K
0
专业英语八级
相关试题推荐
CriticsandsupportersoftheUnitedNationshavesometimesseenworldsapart.Butsincelastyear,almostallofthem,whether
______hasnoregularrhythmorlinelength.
Peopleusuallycommunicatebyspokenandwrittenlanguage,yettheycanalsocommunicatewithoutwordsandthiskindofcommunic
Theworld’spopulationcontinuestogrow.Therenowareabout4billionofusonearth.Thatcouldreach6billionbytheendof
HowtoReadEffectivelyManystudentstendtoreadbookswithoutanypurpose.Theyoftenreadabookslowlyandingreatdetail
IntheUnitedStates,charterschoolsprovidealternativesto"regular"publicschools.Unlikemostpublicschools,chartersdon
Thewaysofhistoryaresointricateandthemotivationsofhumanactionssocomplexthatitisalwayshazardoustoattempttor
Thewaysofhistoryaresointricateandthemotivationsofhumanactionssocomplexthatitisalwayshazardoustoattempttor
Thewaysofhistoryaresointricateandthemotivationsofhumanactionssocomplexthatitisalwayshazardoustoattempttor
CharleyFoleycallsintotheMaterMisericordiaHospitaltovisithiswife."Howareyoufeeling?"heasks,sittingattheb
随机试题
能起到加强表里两经在体表的联系和渗灌气血的作用的是
蒲黄的颜色是
香豆素类灭鼠药中毒的主要机制是:
下列选项中,不符合《建设工程安全生产管理条例》关于机械设备、施工机具和配件出租单位安全责任规定的项目是()。
根据《建筑工程安全生产管理条例》,下列说法正确的是()。
()是指商业银行在不影响日常经营或财务状况的情况下,无法及时有效满足资金需求的风险。
根据契税的有关规定,下列项目中可以征收契税的情况有()。
学生小王总是快到考试时才会花很多时间看书,平时几乎从不花时间采复习老师课堂教学的内容。在复习时,小王常常是课本上有什么内容就看什么内容,什么内容在前就先看什么内容,什么内容在后就后看什么内容,学习成绩一直不理想。学习过程中,学习者利用多样化的复习方式巩
下列说法不符合《社会保险法》规定的是()。
Whyshouldyoufollowthedirectionscarefullywhenusingthemachine?Tousethewashingmaching______Whatisthefirstste
最新回复
(
0
)