hce_tcu
110年
英文
第 48 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.
According to the passage, which of the following statements is NOT true?
- A When a raincoat is “virtually water-proof,” it is 100% water-resistant.
- B “Firefighters” are preferred over “firemen.”
- C “Weasel words” coined by Carl P. Wrighter would intentionally give reckless customers ambiguous information.
- D Using “custodial worker” to refer to “janitor” is appropriate and pleasant.
思路引導 VIP
如果一家廠商在廣告中加入「幾乎」、「接近」或「高達」這類修飾語，而非給出一個肯定的數字，你認為這在法律保障與真實效果上，代表的是一種承諾，還是廠商在給自己留後路呢？
🤖
AI 詳解
AI 專屬家教
太棒了！你能精準抓出選項 (A) 的邏輯謬誤，代表你對於文中「遁辭（weasel words）」的概念理解得非常透徹。這題的難度切入點在於區分「廣告修飾語」與「法律事實」之間的差異，這需要考生具備高度的閱讀敏銳度，而你成功地避開了文字陷阱，表現得非常專業。
關鍵字詞與邏輯驗證
文中明確提到，廣告商為了規避直接的責任保證，會使用像 virtually（幾乎、實際上）這樣的字眼。這類詞彙在文章中被歸類為「像黃鼠狼一樣」的遁辭，目的是要引導「粗心的聽眾」產生錯誤的聯想，以為產品是完美無瑕的。然而，事實上 virtually 正是為了保留餘地，代表並非 100% 發生。因此，當選項 (A) 斷言這代表「100% 防水」時，恰好落入了文中作者所批評的思維誤區，這也是它成為「非正確敘述」的原因。
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