您现在的位置: 跨考网公共课英语阅读正文

近10年考研英语阅读真题精选背诵文章目录:2005年

最后更新时间:2014-07-14 14:43:33
辅导课程:暑期集训 在线咨询
复习紧张,焦头烂额?逆风轻袭,来跨考秋季集训营,帮你寻方法,定方案! 了解一下>>

  Text 4

  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 non-standard 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.

  36.According to McWhorter, the decline of formal English ________.

  [A] is inevitable in radical education reforms

  [B] is but all too natural in language development

  [C] has caused the controversy over the counter-culture

  [D] brought about changes in public attitudes in the 1960s

  37.The word “talking” (Line 6, Paragraph 3) denotes ________.

  [A] modesty

  [B] personality

  [C] liveliness

  [D] informality

  38.To which of the following statements would McWhorter most likely agree?

  [A] Logical thinking is not necessarily related to the way we talk.

  [B] Black English can be more expressive than standard English.

  [C] Non-standard varieties of human language are just as entertaining.

  [D] Of all the varieties, standard English can best convey complex ideas.

  39.The description of Russians’ love of memorizing poetry shows the author’s ________.

  [A] interest in their language

  [B] appreciation of their efforts

  [C] admiration for their memory

  [D] contempt for their old-fashionedness

  40.According to the last paragraph, “paper plates” is to “china” as ________.

  [A] “temporary” is to “permanent”

  [B] “radical” is to “conservative”

  [C] “functional” is to “artistic”

  [D] “humble” is to “noble”

  答案:

  36. [B]37. [D]38. [A]39. [B]40. [C]

相关推荐:

  历年考研英语真题下载汇总

  考研英语一和英语二的区别

  2015年考研英语怎么复习?

  2015年考研英语复习资料

  跨考暑期魔鬼集训营7月10日盛大开营

跨考考研课程

班型 定向班型 开班时间 高定班 标准班 课程介绍 咨询
秋季集训 冲刺班 9.10-12.20 168000 24800起 小班面授+专业课1对1+专业课定向辅导+协议加强课程(高定班)+专属规划答疑(高定班)+精细化答疑+复试资源(高定班)+复试课包(高定班)+复试指导(高定班)+复试班主任1v1服务(高定班)+复试面授密训(高定班)+复试1v1(高定班)
2023集训畅学 非定向(政英班/数政英班) 每月20日 22800起(协议班) 13800起 先行阶在线课程+基础阶在线课程+强化阶在线课程+真题阶在线课程+冲刺阶在线课程+专业课针对性一对一课程+班主任全程督学服务+全程规划体系+全程测试体系+全程精细化答疑+择校择专业能力定位体系+全年关键环节指导体系+初试加强课+初试专属服务+复试全科标准班服务

①凡本网注明“稿件来源:跨考网”的所有文字、图片和音视频稿件,版权均属北京尚学硕博教育咨询有限公司(含本网和跨考网)所有,任何媒体、网站或个人未经本网协议授权不得转载、链接、转帖或以其他任何方式复制、发表。已经本网协议授权的媒体、网站,在下载使用时必须注明“稿件来源,跨考网”,违者本网将依法追究法律责任。

②本网未注明“稿件来源:跨考网”的文/图等稿件均为转载稿,本网转载仅基于传递更多信息之目的,并不意味着再通转载稿的观点或证实其内容的真实性。如其他媒体、网站或个人从本网下载使用,必须保留本网注明的“稿件来源”,并自负版权等法律责任。如擅自篡改为“稿件来源:跨考网”,本网将依法追究法律责任。

③如本网转载稿涉及版权等问题,请作者见稿后在两周内速来电与跨考网联系,电话:400-883-2220