hce_tcu
110年
英文
第 50 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.
From which field can we possibly find this passage?
- A Anthropology
- B Marketing Strategies
- C Rhetoric
- D Physiology
思路引導 VIP
請回想一下文章中提到的廣告手法、對死亡的委婉說法，以及職場上的稱謂變化。這些例子共同在探討哪一種「溝通工具」的不同使用技巧？而哪一個學術領域專門在研究「如何運用特定的語言表達方式，來達成說服、包裝或改變他人感受」的目的呢？
🤖
AI 詳解
AI 專屬家教
恭喜你答對了！這題考驗的是對全文主旨與學術範疇的歸納能力，你能精準判斷出文章背後的學科視角，代表你對文本的宏觀掌握非常出色。
言辭表達與影響力：修辭學的核心
這篇文章從廣告用語（weasel words）、婉轉語（euphemisms）一路探討到性別歧視語言（sexist language），其貫穿全篇的核心在於**「人們如何策略性地選擇詞彙，以影響聽眾的認知、情感或遮掩真實意圖」。這種研究語言使用技巧及其社會影響的學問，正屬於修辭學（Rhetoric）**的範疇。雖然文中提到了行銷與醫療行為，但那都只是用來佐證「言辭功能」的實例，而非文章的主要學術歸屬。
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