Language is, and should be, a living thing, constantly enriched with new words and forms of expressions. But there is a vital di

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问题    Language is, and should be, a living thing, constantly enriched with new words and forms of expressions. But there is a vital distinction between good developments, which add to the language, enabling us to say things we could not say before, and bad developments, which subtract from the language by rendering it less precise. A vivid, colorful use of words is not to be confused with mere casual use. The casual use in which some professionals deliberately indulge is perhaps akin to the fashion of the unfinished work, which has eroded most of the arts in our time. And the true answer to it is the same--that art is enhanced, no hindered, by discipline. You cannot carve satisfactorily in butter.
   The corruption of written English has been accompanied by an even sharper decline in the standard of spoken English. We speak very much less well than was common among educated Englishmen a generation or two ago.
   The modern theatre has played a part in dimming our appreciation of language. Instead of the immensely articulate dialogue of, for example, Shaw (who was also very insistent on good pronunciation), audiences are now subjected to streams of barely literate trivia, often designed, only too well, to exhibit" lack of communication", and filled with dirty words and grammatical errors of the intellectually impoverished. Emily Post once advised her reader: "The theatre is the best possible place to hear correctly-pronounced speech. "Alas, no more. One young actress was recently reported to be taking lessons in how to speak badly, so that she should fit in better.
   But the BBC is the worst traitor. After years of very successfully helping to raise the general standard of spoken English, it suddenly went into reverse. As the head of the Pronunciation Union shyly put it," In the 1960’s the BBC opened the field to a much wider range of speakers". To hear a BBC disc jockey talking to the latest apelike pop idol is a truly shocking experience of verbal garbage. And the prospect seems to be of even worse to come. School teachers are actively encouraged to ignore little Johnny’s incoherent grammar, bad spelling and haphazard punctuation, because worrying about such things might inhibit his creative genius.
What role do the plays in modem theatre play?

选项 A、They set a bad example for people not to appreciate fine language.
B、They teach people best pronunciations.
C、They introduce English classical literature to the audience.
D、They tell people how to speak badly.

答案A

解析 根据文章第三段第一、二句可知现在的剧院淡化了人们对优美语言的欣赏,因为现在那里所上演的剧作充满了污言秽语、语法错误而且发音也不如从前。B是Emily Post时代剧院的节目所能做的。C文章未提及。D是一个年轻女演员所上的课。
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