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
67
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
Culturalrulesdetermineeveryaspectoffoodconsumption.Whoeatstogetherdefinessocialunits.Forexample,insomesocietie
TheInternetappealstoshoppersinthat
WithhispoorEnglish,heevencannotgethisideasacross,______exertanyessentialeffectonothers.
Anothernatural______thatcontributestothewelfareofthecountryiswater.
Itisanunderstoodfactthatwaterhelpsmobilizesolublenutrients,transportwastematerialsandregulatesbodytemperature.(
Itisanunderstoodfactthatwaterhelpsmobilizesolublenutrients,transportwastematerialsandregulatesbodytemperature.(
Alcoholmaytastesweeterifyouwereexposedtoitbeforebirth,suggestsastudyinrats.Thefindingsmayshednewlight(1)__
Childrenareinneedofadoptionbecausesomebirthparentsareunableorunavailabletoprovideadequatelyfortheneedsofthe
Foranyonewhodoubtsthatthetextingrevolutionisuponus,considerthis:Theaverage13-to17-year-oldsendsandreceives3
Theenergy______bythechainreactionistransformedintoheat.
随机试题
细丝CO2气体保护焊时,熔滴过渡形式一般都是喷射过渡。()
患者女,26岁。因反复双下肢皮肤紫癜、月经增多1年来诊。既往无服药史。查体:脾肋下刚及。检测WBC9.5×109/L,Hb102g/L,PLT24×109/L;ESR、尿常规、肝肾功能正常;骨髓检查示增生活跃,巨核细胞75个。若患者合并急性阑尾炎,须行
血液凝固后析出的液体为
左心功能不全所致呼吸困难是由于
某企业使用霉变面粉加工馒头,潜在受害人不可确定。甲、乙、丙、丁等20多名受害者提起损害赔偿诉讼,但未能推选出诉讼代表人。法院建议由甲、乙作为诉讼代表人,但丙、丁等人反对。关于本案,下列哪一选项是正确的?(2011年试卷三第48题)
从Perry公司年末财务报表中选取如下数据:Perry公司当年的销售净额是:
关于原始凭证填制要求的说法,正确的是()。
全面深化经济体制改革
[2007年GRK真题]以一般读者为对象的评价建筑作品的著作,应当包括对建筑作品两方面的评价,一是实用价值,二是审美价值,否则就是有缺陷的。摩顿评价意大利巴洛克宫殿的专著,详细地分析评价了这些宫殿的实用功能,但是没能指出,这些宫殿,特别是它们的极具特色的拱
有如下的类声明:#includeusingnamespacestd;classAA{public:virtualvoiddisp(){cout
最新回复
(
0
)