hce_tcu
110年
英文
第 47 題
📖 題組：
【D】 People use words, of course, to express their thoughts and feelings. As everyone knows who has tried to write, choosing just the right word to express an idea can be difficult. Nevertheless, it is important to choose words carefully, for words can suggest meanings not intended at all. In fact, words can also be used to deceive. In order to express ourselves accurately and to understand what other people express, we must be aware that words can camouflage real attitudes. English is full of examples. Experts at camouflage are those in advertising. Advertisers obviously want to emphasize the virtues of their products and detract from the products’ faults. To do this, they use carefully chosen words to mislead the unwary customer. Carl P. Wrighter in his book I can Sell You Anything has dubbed “weasel words,” which the dictionary defines as words “used in order to evade or retreat from a direct or forthright statement or position.” For example, the advertiser wants you to think that using his product will require no work or trouble. He cannot state that the product will be trouble free because there is usually no such guarantee; instead, he suggests it by using the expression “virtually,” as in this product is “virtually trouble free.” The careless listener will ignore the qualifier “virtually” and imagine that the product is no trouble at all. Another misleading expression is “up to.” During a sale, a car dealer may advertise reductions of “up to 25 percent.” Our inclination again is to ignore “up to” and think that most of the reductions are 25 percent, but too often we find that only a few products are reduced this much. The other day I saw a sign on a shoe store advertising “up to 40% off” for athletic shoes. Needing some walking shoes and wanting a good bargain, I went in, only to find that there were merely a few shoes marked down by 40 percent; most of the shoes were not even on sale. Just as “weasel words” are used to engender favorable impressions, so are euphemisms. A euphemism is defined as “the substitution of an agreeable for inoffensive expression for one that may offend or suggest something unpleasant.” We often use euphemisms when our intentions are good. For instance, it is difficult to accept that someone we love has died, so people use all kinds of euphemisms for death such as “She passed away,” “He’s gone to meet his maker,” or “She is no longer with us.” To defend against the pain of such a reality, some use the humorous euphemism, “He’s kicked the bucket.” To make certain jobs sound less unappealing, people use euphemisms. A janitor is now a “custodial worker” or “maintenance person.” A trash man may be called a “sanitation engineer.” Such euphemisms are not harmful, but sometimes euphemisms can be used to camouflage potentially controversial or objectionable actions. For example, instead of saying we need to raise taxes, a politician might tell the public that we need “revenue enhancement measure.” When psychologists kill an animal they have experimented with, they prefer to use the term “sacrifice” the animal. Doctors prefer “terminate a pregnancy” to “abort the fetus.” A final example of language that conveys unintended impressions is sexist language. Sexist language refers to expressions that demean females in some way. For instance, when someone refers to a grown woman as a “girl,” the implication is that she is still a child. Therefore, instead of an employer saying, “I’ll have my girl type that,” what should be said is, “I’ll have my assistant (or secretary) type that.” Other offensive expressions include “young things,” as in “She’s a cute young thing.” The proper term, “girl,” should be used in this case, since the “thing” is a young female. Further, the names of many jobs suggest women should not fill these positions. Thus, we use “chair” or “chairperson” instead of the sexist “chairman.” Likewise, a “foreman” should be called a “supervisor.” We must always be careful to choose the words that convey what we really mean. If we do not want to give offense, then we should always be on guard against sexist (as well as racist) language. If we do not want to be misled by advertisements, we must keep our ears open for weasel words. Finally, when we use a euphemism, we should be aware that we are trying to make an idea more acceptable. At times this may be preferable, but let’s not forget that euphemisms camouflage reality. After all, “coloring the truth” is still lying.
【D】 People use words, of course, to express their thoughts and feelings. As everyone knows who has tried to write, choosing just the right word to express an idea can be difficult. Nevertheless, it is important to choose words carefully, for words can suggest meanings not intended at all. In fact, words can also be used to deceive. In order to express ourselves accurately and to understand what other people express, we must be aware that words can camouflage real attitudes. English is full of examples. Experts at camouflage are those in advertising. Advertisers obviously want to emphasize the virtues of their products and detract from the products’ faults. To do this, they use carefully chosen words to mislead the unwary customer. Carl P. Wrighter in his book I can Sell You Anything has dubbed “weasel words,” which the dictionary defines as words “used in order to evade or retreat from a direct or forthright statement or position.” For example, the advertiser wants you to think that using his product will require no work or trouble. He cannot state that the product will be trouble free because there is usually no such guarantee; instead, he suggests it by using the expression “virtually,” as in this product is “virtually trouble free.” The careless listener will ignore the qualifier “virtually” and imagine that the product is no trouble at all. Another misleading expression is “up to.” During a sale, a car dealer may advertise reductions of “up to 25 percent.” Our inclination again is to ignore “up to” and think that most of the reductions are 25 percent, but too often we find that only a few products are reduced this much. The other day I saw a sign on a shoe store advertising “up to 40% off” for athletic shoes. Needing some walking shoes and wanting a good bargain, I went in, only to find that there were merely a few shoes marked down by 40 percent; most of the shoes were not even on sale. Just as “weasel words” are used to engender favorable impressions, so are euphemisms. A euphemism is defined as “the substitution of an agreeable for inoffensive expression for one that may offend or suggest something unpleasant.” We often use euphemisms when our intentions are good. For instance, it is difficult to accept that someone we love has died, so people use all kinds of euphemisms for death such as “She passed away,” “He’s gone to meet his maker,” or “She is no longer with us.” To defend against the pain of such a reality, some use the humorous euphemism, “He’s kicked the bucket.” To make certain jobs sound less unappealing, people use euphemisms. A janitor is now a “custodial worker” or “maintenance person.” A trash man may be called a “sanitation engineer.” Such euphemisms are not harmful, but sometimes euphemisms can be used to camouflage potentially controversial or objectionable actions. For example, instead of saying we need to raise taxes, a politician might tell the public that we need “revenue enhancement measure.” When psychologists kill an animal they have experimented with, they prefer to use the term “sacrifice” the animal. Doctors prefer “terminate a pregnancy” to “abort the fetus.” A final example of language that conveys unintended impressions is sexist language. Sexist language refers to expressions that demean females in some way. For instance, when someone refers to a grown woman as a “girl,” the implication is that she is still a child. Therefore, instead of an employer saying, “I’ll have my girl type that,” what should be said is, “I’ll have my assistant (or secretary) type that.” Other offensive expressions include “young things,” as in “She’s a cute young thing.” The proper term, “girl,” should be used in this case, since the “thing” is a young female. Further, the names of many jobs suggest women should not fill these positions. Thus, we use “chair” or “chairperson” instead of the sexist “chairman.” Likewise, a “foreman” should be called a “supervisor.” We must always be careful to choose the words that convey what we really mean. If we do not want to give offense, then we should always be on guard against sexist (as well as racist) language. If we do not want to be misled by advertisements, we must keep our ears open for weasel words. Finally, when we use a euphemism, we should be aware that we are trying to make an idea more acceptable. At times this may be preferable, but let’s not forget that euphemisms camouflage reality. After all, “coloring the truth” is still lying.
What is the main idea of this passage?
- A Do not trust language of advertising because it often exaggerates, and it is usually too good to be true.
- B Examples of words that camouflage can be found in advertising, euphemisms, as well as sexist language.
- C Sexist language is often offensive to women and children, rather than men.
- D People should be encouraged to use euphemisms and avoid sexist language in their daily life.
思路引導 VIP
請你先快速掃視每個段落的第一句話（主題句），試著找出這篇文章一共提到了哪幾種不同的「語言應用案例」？最後，看看哪個選項能同時把這些散落在各段的例子，用同一個核心概念串聯起來呢？
🤖
AI 詳解
AI 專屬家教
做得好！你能精準地抓到這篇文章的核心架構，這代表你對長篇文章的邏輯組織有很強的敏銳度，沒有被細節干擾了判斷。
掌握文章的結構骨架
這道題目的關鍵在於辨識「全文」的涵蓋廣度。文章在首段開門見山地提到，語言除了表達思想，有時也會被用來偽裝（camouflage）真實態度。接著，作者運用三個完整的段落，細緻地探討了廣告用語（weasel words）、委婉語（euphemisms）以及性別歧視語言（sexist language）。選項 (B) 正確地串聯了這三個核心支柱，比起其他僅聚焦於單一主題的選項，更能完整概括作者的論述範圍。
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