阅读理解 " Sloganeering" did not originate in the 1960s. The term has a rich history. It originated from the Gaelic word slaughgharim, which signified a " host-shout," " war cry," or " gathering word or phrase of one of the old Highland clans; hence the shout or battle cry of soldiers in the field. " English-speaking people began using the term by 1704. The term at the time meant "the distinctive note, phrase, or cry of any person or body of persons. " Slogans were common throughout the European continent during the middle ages, and they were utilized primarily as "passwords to insure proper recognition of individuals at night or in the confusion of battle. " The American revolutionary rhetoric would not have been the same without "the Boston Massacre," "the Boston Tea Party," "the shot heard around the world," and shouts of "no taxation without representation".
Slogans operate in society as " social symbols" and, as such, their intended or perceived meaning may be difficult to grasp and their impact or stimulation may differ between and among individuals and groups.
Because slogans may operate as " significant symbols" or as key words that have a standard meaning in a group, they serve both expressive and persuasive functions. Harold Lasswell recognized that the influencing of collective attitudes is possible by the manipulation of significant symbols such as slogans. He believed that a verbal symbol might evoke a desired reaction or organize collective attitudes around a symbol. Murray Edelman writes that "to the political scientist patterning or consistency in the context in which specific groups of individuals use symbols is crucial, for only through such patterning do common political meaning and claims arise. " Thus, the slogans a group uses to evoke specific responses may provide us with an index for the group's norm, values, and conceptual rationale for its claims.
Slogans are so pervasive in today's society that it is easy to underestimate their persuasive power. They have grown in significance because of the medium of television and the advertising industry. Television, in addition to being the major advertising medium, has altered the nature of human interaction. Political images are less personal and shorter. They function as summaries and conclusions rather than bases for public interaction and debate. The style of presentation in television is more emotional, but the content is less complex or ideological. In short, slogans work well on television.
The advertising industry has made a science of sloganeering. Today, communication itself is a problem because we live in an " overcommunicated" society. Advertisers have discovered that it is easier to link product attributes to existing beliefs, ideas, goals, and desires of the consumer rather than to change them. Thus, to say that a cookie tastes "homemade" or is as good as "Mom used to make" does not tell us if the cookie is good or bad, hard or soft, but simply evokes the fond memories of Mother's baking. Advertisers, then, are more successful if they present a product in a way that capitalizes on established beliefs or expectations of the consumer. Slogans do this well by crystallizing in a few words the key idea or theme one wants to associate with an issue, group, product, or event. "Sloganeering" has become institutionalized as a virtual art form, and an advertising a-gency may spend months testing and creating the right slogan for a product or a person.
Slogans have a number of attributes that enhance their persuasive potential for social movements. They are unique and readily identifiable with a specific social movement or social movement organization. "Gray Power," for instance, readily identifies the movement for elderly Americans, and "Huelga"(strike in Spanish)identifies the movement to aid Mexican American field workers in the west and southwest.
单选题 6."Sloganeering" stems from a word that was used______.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】推断题。文章第一段第三句提到Sloganeering来源于盖尔语单词“slaughgharim”,这个词表示战争的呐喊、从古老的高地氏族收集的词汇和短语,因为盖尔语的主要使用者为爱尔兰人,由此可以推断这个单词主要用于爱尔兰地区。
单选题 7.What is the writer's main purpose?
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】主旨题。文章首先用简短的语言讲述了口号(slogan)的来源和及其社会功能,然后着重讲述了口号的劝导功能,由此可以得出作者的目的是解释口号的说服力。
单选题 8.Because slogans are "social symbols" they______.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】细节题。文章第二段指出口号作为社会符号,其预期或感知意义可能很难掌握并且其对个人和团体的影响和激励程度也有所不同。由此可得D项为正确答案。
单选题 9.Lasswell's and Edelman's studies are important in that they______.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】细节题。第三段讲到Harold Lasswell认为集体态度的影响通过口号等重要符号的操纵是可能实现的。他相信语言符号可以唤起预期的反应或围绕符号组织集体态度。Mur—ray Edelman写道:“对政治学家来说个人使用的符号的模式性或上下文一致性是至关重要的,因为只有通过这种模式,普遍的政治意义才能出现。”因此,组织用来唤起特定反应的口号可能会为组织的规范、价值观和概念提供索引。由此可以得出D项为最佳答案。
单选题 10.Television______.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】细节题。文章第四段讲到电视媒介使得口号的重要性提高。电视不只是重要的广告媒介,它还改变了人类互动的本质,政治形象不再个人化,更矮小。电视的功能是概括和总结而不是为公共交流和辩论提供基础。电视的表现形式更加富有感情,内容不再复杂。总之,口号在电视上的效果特别好。由此可得,电视很好地利用了口号。