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
96
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!
What’s the difference between "postal worker" and "postman" according to the passage?
选项
A、The former is informal, the latter is formal.
B、The former is formal, the latter is informal.
C、They have the same usage.
D、Both of them is informal.
答案
B
解析
细节题。从第四段“You would be quite likely to read in the paper that‘Postalworkers are to receive a pay increase’.But‘Has the postman been?’would be mostlikely to be heard in informal conversation.”可以看出,postal worker是正式用法,常出现在报纸等书面文字中,而postman则是非正式用法,常用在口语中,所以[B]是正确答案。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/yPTK777K
0
专业英语四级
相关试题推荐
Neitherofthetwoyoungmenwhohadappliedforapositionintheuniversity______.
HowdidtheEnglishChannelcomeintobeing?
We_____overestimatetheimportanceofthedevelopmentofrelationshipbetweenChinaandothercountries.
Israeliarchaeologistshavediscoveredhumanremainsdatingfrom400,000yearsago,(1)______conventionalwisdomthatHomosapie
Themultinationalcorporationwasmakingatake-over______forapropertycompany.(1991年考试真题)
Journalistshave______aplottokilltheAmericanpresident.
Comparisonsweredrawnbetweenthedevelopmentoftelevisioninthe20thcenturyandthediffusionofprintinginthe15thand1
SputnikIwasthefirstartificialsatellite.Itcanbedescribedasanaluminum(1)______withadiameterof58centimetersand
Peopletravelinglongdistancesfrequentlyhavetodecidewhethertheywouldprefertogobyland,sea,orair.Hardlycananyon
EveryAprilIamtroubledbythesameconcern—thatspringmightnotoccurthisyear.Thelandscapelooksdull,withhills,skya
随机试题
实验室由乙醇制备乙烯的反应属于水解反应。()
由一些经过积极而认真研究的项目所组成的议程是()
合成盐酸的部位是在壁细胞的
患者,男,23岁,因食辛辣之品见衄血,血色鲜红,口干咽燥,舌红,脉弦数。治疗宜选用
在《建设工程委托监理合同(示范文本)》中,纲领性的法律文件是()。
企业职业健康安全方针的内容要满足一个框架和三个承诺的要求,分别指()。
中国基金业协会鼓励私募基金管理人选择具备一定条件的中国律师事务所出具私募基金管理人登记法律意见书。下列关于中国律师事务所具备的相关条件的表述,错误的是()。
从动机的生理基础来看,动机最佳水平应是______程度的激活或唤起,此时对学习具有最佳效果。
不等式>0的解集为().
______shouldnotbecomeaseriousdisadvantageinlifeandwork.
最新回复
(
0
)