Language is
and should be a living thing, constantly enriched with new words and forms of
expression. But there is a vital distinction between good developments, which
add to the language, enabling us to say things we could not say before, and bad
developments, which subtract from the language by rendering it less precise. A
vivacious, colorful use of words is not to be confused with mere slovenliness
(不修边幅). The kind of slovenliness in which some professionals deliberately
indulge is perhaps akin (相似的) to the cult of the unfinished work, which has
eroded most of the arts in our time. And the true answer to it is the same that
art is enhanced, not hindered, by discipline. You cannot carve satisfactorily in
butter. The corruption of written English has been accompanied
by an even sharper decline in the standard of spoken English. We speak very much
less well than was common among educated Englishmen generation or two
ago. The modern theatre has played a baneful part in dimming
our appreciation of language. Instead of the immensely articulate dialogue of,
for example, Shaw (who was also very insistent off good pronunciation),
audiences are now subjected to streams of barely literate trivia, often
designed, only too well, to exhibit "lack of communication", and larded with the
obscenities and grammatical errors of the intellectually impoverished. Emily
Post once advised her readers: "The theatre is the best possible place to hear
correctly-enunciated speech." Alas, no more. One young actress was recently
reported to be taking lessons in how to speak badly, so that she should fit in
better. But the BBC is the worst traitor. After years of very
successfully helping to raise the general standard of spoken English, it
suddenly went into reverse. As the head of the pronunciation unit coyly put it:
"In the 1960s the BBC opened the field to a much wider range of speakers." To
hear a BBC disc jockey talking to the latest ape-like pop idol is a truly
shocking experience of verbal squalor. And the prospect seems to be of even
worse to come. School teachers are actively encouraged to ignore little Johnnys
incoherent grammar, atrocious spelling and haphazard punctuation, because
worrying about such things might inhibit his creative genius.
单选题
The writer relates linguistic slovenliness to tendencies in the arts
today in that both ______.
A.occasionally aim at a certain degree of fluidity
B.from time to time show concern for the finishing touch
C.appear to shun perfection
D.may make use of economical short cuts
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】[解析] 此题为推断题。第一段中作者把“the kind of slovenliness”和“the cult of unfinished work”做对比，又说后者"erode most of the arts in our time”，可见两者都是负面的、带有破坏性的，故本题选C。
单选题
What does the writer say has happened to spoken English today?
A.Writing problems are not reflected in poor oral expression.
B.On the whole, people don't mind making mistakes.
C.Educated Englishmen now are less communicative than they were in the
past.
D.Like written English, it has undergone a noticeable change for the
better.
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】[解析] 此题为细节题。第二段说到“even sharper decline in the standard of English”，最后一段最后一句说连老师也被鼓励去忽略这些错误，所以B项符合题意，故本题选B。
单选题
What effect is the modern theatre said to have had on language?
A.It has become an important factor in reform.
B.It has made us more aware of subtleties in language.
C.It has exerted a welcome and positive influence.
单选题
Many modern plays, the author finds, contain speeches which ______.
A.are incoherent and linguistically objectionable
B.are far too difficult for most people to follow
C.unintentionally shock the audience
D.deliberately try to hide the playwright's intellectual
inadequacies
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】[解析] 此题为细节题。第三段第二句“...to exhibit 'lack of communication', and larded with the obscenities and grammatical errors of the intellectually impoverished.”同A项意思相同，故本题选A。