hce_tcu
110年
英文
第 49 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 “coloring the truth”?
- A Jason has early retirement because the company he had worked for was under bad financial condition.
- B The scientists hold the annual ceremony for those animals sacrificed for the experiments.
- C People show their condolences because their friends or relatives passed away.
- D The shoe owner always warm-heartedly calls his female assistant by saying, “Little young thing, would you please come to help?”
思路引導 VIP
請你觀察文章的最後一段，作者特別將哪一種語言技巧定義為「修飾真相（coloring the truth）」？接著請試著思考：當我們把「死亡」說成「過世」，與「對女性使用不尊重的稱呼」相比，哪一種做法的動機是為了讓「原本不好聽的事實」聽起來變得「比較優雅或容易被接受」呢？
🤖
AI 詳解
AI 專屬家教
太棒了！你能精準識別出文章末段對「修飾真相」的定義，這代表你對長文的結構捕捉與細節邏輯掌握得非常扎實。
委婉語與「修飾真相」的關聯
在文章中，作者明確將「修飾真相（coloring the truth）」與**委婉語（euphemism）及閃爍其詞（weasel words）**掛鉤，強調這些表達方式是為了讓殘酷或令人不悅的事實變得「悅耳」或「好接受」。選項 (B) 的「犧牲（sacrificed）」與 (C) 的「過世（passed away）」均為文中提到的典型委婉語。而選項 (A) 的「提早退休（early retirement）」在職場語境中，也常被用來修飾公司因財務危機（bad financial condition）而縮編或裁員的負面現實，因此它們都屬於「修飾真相」的範疇。
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