【正确答案】正确答案：Language is regarded as a mirror of the society, through which we can understand social activities of a certain society better. Language is both a scientific system and a social activity. It is the major bond of people"s communication.(2 points) The selection of language is not only restricted by structural rules but also involves some socially institutionalized norms in usage. In this sense, the choice of language is both stylistically and socially governed. Some social factors are believed to influence our language behavior in a social context. Among these factors, some major ones include class, gender, age, ethnic identity, educational background, occupation and religious belief.(2.5 points) For example, in the middle of 1960s, William Labov made a study about the relationship between speakers" social status and their phonological variations. The result turned out that class and style were two major factors influencing the speakers" choice of one phonological variant over another. Besides, there were hypotheses based on some study about women register and also there were some studies made on the black English.(2.5 points) All this shows, to a certain degree, that our language can reflect our status, gender, religion, occupation and so on. Therefore we can say we are what we say.(0. 5 point)

【答案解析】解析：考查对“尔即尔所言”的理解。“尔即尔所言”指的是在一定的社会背景中，一些社会因素影响我们的语言行为。这些因素主要包括：a)社会阶级；b)性别；c)年龄；d)种族认同；e)教育背景；f)职业和g)宗教信仰。比如，拉波夫的研究表明，阶层和风格是影响说话者选择语音变体的两个主要因素。此外，性别也影响着个体对自己语言的选择，因此，女性的语言和男性的语言存在一些普遍差异。因此，从某种程度上来讲，“尔即尔所言”确实有其道理。