The words used to describe women are used as instrument by feminist sociolinguists to denote an inherent sexism in the English language.Word pairs such as master and mistress and sir and madam,they claim ,epitomize such sexism.All of the words in question once held positive connotations but,while the masculine (男性的)forms have retained their respectable associations,the feminine forms have undergone pejoration and now imply sexual promiscuity(混杂) and other negative characteristics.Feminist researchers assume that such pejoration indicate that the status of women in English-speaking society is relatively low.
These researchers also find fault with the use of masculine words to describe unisex entities .For example ,they feel that there is nothing inherently mainly about mankind, the best man for the job,or the common man.Similarly,the use of such constructions as the “the average students is worried about his grades” indicate to these researchers an inherent sexism in English that is reflective of the cultures in which they are produced .
Carolyn Jacobson ,author of Non-sexist Language has proposed a solution to this conundrum(难题).She advocates the elimination of all sexed words in favor of gender-neutral terms.No longer should we refer to actors and actresses or waiters and waitresses, as such dichotomies(男女有别) allow for the possibility of negative connotations being associated with the feminine designation.Likewise,she believes that phrases such as mankind should give way to human kind and that the use of the masculine pronoun as the default should be abandoned in favor of neutral constructions.Thus, when sexism is eliminated from the English language ,the culture will be more amenable to he deliverance of women as well .
1. The primary purpose of this passage is to——
A compare and contrast ideology in various cultures
B prove a commonly held belief to be wrong
C describe a problem and a possible solution
D analyze the historical origins of a modern situation
2 According to the passage,gender-neutral constructions should be advocated because——
A the elimination of sexism in the English language will precede the elimination of sexism in the culture
B they are more grammatically sound than sexed structures
C unisex terms are less awkward in casual speech
D sex-specific terms always carry negative connotations
3 The author refers to mankind ,the best man for the job,and the common man in order to ——
A demonstrate the superiority of males in English-speaking society
B provide an example of speech that is slanted towards the advantage of males
C list the characteristics of the feminist socialinguist movement
D discount the notion that the English language discriminates against wome
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