【正确答案】正确答案：The Principle of Relevance is defined as; Every act of ostensive communication communicates the presumption of its own optimal relevance.(2 points) By presumption of optimal relevance is meant:(a)The set of assumptions{I}which the communicator intends to make manifest to the addressee is relevant enough to make it worth the addressee"s while to process the ostensive stimulus;(b)The ostensive stimulus is the most relevant one the communicator could have used to communicate{I}.(4 points) Even if the two explanations are correct, the second explanation is relevant enough, but is not the most relevant on account of the increased processing effort involved. Therefore, in a normal circumstance the sentence John went to the bank means that the agent of the sentence was(went)in(to)a bank in order to receive the kind of service a bank is designed for. If the second explanation were the intended interpretation, the speaker should have used something like; John went to the bank for a walk.(4 points)

【答案解析】解析：考查交际关联原则。关联原则的定义是：每一个明示交际行动，都传递一种假定：该行动本身具备最佳关联性。从说话人方面讲，交际应该被看成一种标明自身说话意图的行为。而最佳关联假定是：发话者意欲向听话者显现的这个设想集{I}，具有足够的关联性，值得听话者花时间去处理其明示性刺激信号；这一明示刺激信号是发话者可能用来传递{I}的关联性最大的信号。因此在理解本句话时，对听话人而言，通常情况下，第一解读是约翰去了银行办理业务，而不是去了河边。