内容正文:
Period 2
Grammar and composition—Euphemism
Unit 3
Our culture,our treasure
语法感悟
语法精讲
达标检测
语法 感悟
3
阅读以下短文,感知并猜测加颜色部分的意思
Mr Smith,a ①landscape architect,devoted all his life to the work of landscape.As time went by,he became ②not all there and had ③a weight problem.Gradually he was ④hard of hearing.In his late seventies,his wife ⑤was gone and he had to live a poor life by ⑥welfare benefits.Now the old man is ⑦on his last legs and can not eat anything.
1.landscape architect _________
2.not all there _________
3.a weight problem _____
4.hard of hearing _____
5.was gone _____
6.welfare benefits _______
7.on his last legs ___________________
返 回
园林工人
呆头呆脑
肥胖
耳聋
去世
救济金
行将就木,濒临死亡
语法 精讲
6
委婉语
委婉语(euphemism)是一种礼貌的表达方式,用间接的话语来代替禁忌、敏感或令人尴尬的说法。在语言交际中恰当使用委婉语,可以有效地达成交际目的,维持良好的人际关系。在英语中,委婉语通常用于谈论以下话题:
1.表达禁忌或较为敏感的词语
(1)人们忌讳说“死亡”“倒闭”等词语
His grandfather passed away last week. The funeral will be held this Friday.
他祖父上周去世了。 葬礼将于本周五举行。
Dick’s firm is on its last legs.
迪克的公司就要倒闭了。
[说明] 也许人们在生活中比较忌讳死亡,尤其对于受人尊敬和爱戴的人的死亡,更忌讳直接运用die, 因此出现了许多表达死亡的委婉语,如:pass away (逝世),depart(去世),be gone (走了), to go west (归西了),to be at peace(平静了),final sleep (最后一觉)等。
(2)人们忌讳说“年老”等词语
Last year, my father set up a club for senior citizens.
去年,我父亲创立了一个老年人俱乐部。
[说明] 在西方国家,年龄是一个非常敏感的话题。所以old (老) 一词是令人难以接受的,于是便产生了许多关于老年的委婉语。这些词语表达了老年人的某种愿望,希望自己生命永恒,或希望自己容颜不衰,体型不改。下列词语也常用来表示老年人:senior citizen(高龄公民,资深公民),the elderly (年长者),the mature (成熟的人),seasoned man (经验丰富的人,历经沧桑的人)。
(3)人们忌讳说“笨拙”“残疾”“肥胖”等与智力或身体缺陷有关的词语
The boy is a bit slow for his age.
在同龄人中这男孩脑子慢一点。
The girl is hard of hearing.
这女孩耳朵不好使。
The school is for people who are physically challenged.
这所学校是专为身体有残疾的人设立的。
2.替代不文雅词语的委婉用语
(1)常用的厕所名称有:
ladies(原意是女士,转指女厕所,被认为是最常用、最典雅的委婉语,而且无尊卑之分)。
gentlemen(原意是先生,转指男厕所)。
美国人常用的厕所名称是washroom (原意是洗手间,转指厕所,使用频率较高)。
Where can I wash my hands? 卫生间在哪里?
(2)人们忌讳说那些表示“地位低、收入少”的服务性行业或职业的词语
The sanitary engineer cleaned the hospital.
清洁工人打扫医院。
They decided to employ a domestic engineer to help them clean the house.
他们决定雇用一名家政工程师帮助他们打扫房子。
[说明] 在英美国家,工作和社会地位的高低贵贱悬殊,那些从事被认为地位低下、挣钱不多的服务性工作或职业的人害怕被别人瞧不起,忌讳别人直接提到他们的职业。当他们要提到自己的职业时,常会用一些委婉动听的名称来取代:如shoe rebuilder 指补鞋匠 (shoemaker),meat technologist指屠夫(butcher),landscape architect指园林工人(landscape worker)等。
(3)人们忌讳说“失业、贫穷”等词语
My father has a lot of free time because he is between jobs at the moment.
我父亲因为目前失业,有的是时间。
They did not sell a single car for a month and had to lay off workers.
他们一个月来一辆汽车都没卖出去,只好裁员。
返 回
达标检测
完成下列语段,尽可能多地使用委婉语
玛丽是一名正在日趋变老的老年人。因为缺乏锻炼,她有点胖。她决定进行锻炼因为她可不想早早面对死亡。凌晨三点,在家里佣人的陪同下,她开始在街上跑步。大约二十分钟后,她遇到了一位清洁工。攀谈中,那人告诉她说,在罢工后,他上个月失业了。幸运的是,他又找到了目前的工作。为了养家糊口,他必须努力。
Mary,1. ,is growing old day by day.Lacking in enough exercise,she has 2. .She is determined to do exercise because she does not want to 3. so early.At 3:00 in the morning she began to run on the street,accompanied by her 4.__________________. About 20 minutes later,they came across 5. .During the talk,the man told her that he had been out of work after an 6._______________ the last month.Fortunately,he found this present job and had to work hard to support the family.
返 回
a senior citizen
extra pounds
go to heaven
domestic engineer
a sanitary engineer
industrial action
$$