历年考研英语阅读理解mp3(05-4)

[00:00.00]在线英语听力室(www.tingroom.com)友情制作
[00:05.63]2005 Text4
[00:07.86]Americans no longer expect public figures,
[00:11.18]whether in speech or in writing,
[00:13.41]to command the English language with skill and gift.
[00:17.76]Nor do they aspire¹ to such command themselves.
[00:21.81]In his latest book, Doing Our Own Thing:
[00:24.83]The Degradation² of Language and Music
[00:27.62]and Why We Should, Like, Care,
[00:31.36]John McWhorter, a linguist³ and controversialist
[00:34.49]of mixed liberal and conservative views,
[00:38.22]see the triumph of 1960s counter-culture
[00:41.94]as responsible for the decline of formal English.
[00:45.57]Blaming the permissive 1960s is nothing new,
[00:49.59]but this is not yet another criticism
[00:51.78]against the decline in education.
[00:55.40]Mr. McWhorter's academic specialty
[00:58.05]is language history and change,
[01:00.45]and he sees the gradual disappearance⁵ of "whom", for example,
[01:04.60]to be natural and no more regrettable
[01:06.90]than the loss of the case-endings of Old English.
[01:11.34]But the cult⁴ of the authentic⁶ and the personal,
[01:14.30]"doing our own thing",
[01:15.98]has spelt the death of formal speech,
[01:18.39]writing, poetry and music.
[01:21.52]While even the modestly educated sought an elevated tone
[01:25.46]when they put pen to paper before the 1960s,
[01:29.49]even the most well regarded writing since then
[01:32.73]has sought to capture spoken English on the page.
[01:36.44]Equally, in poetry, the highly personal, performative genre
[01:41.42]is the only form that could claim real liveliness.
[01:46.56]In both oral and written English,
[01:49.29]talking is triumphing over speaking, spontaneity over craft.
[01:55.34]Illustrated with an entertaining array of examples
[01:58.47]from both high and low culture,
[02:00.99]the trend that Mr.McWhorter documents is unmistakable.
[02:04.93]But it is less clear, to take the question of his subtitle,
[02:08.85]why we should, like, care.
[02:12.19]As a linguist, he acknowledges
[02:14.13]that all varieties of human language,
[02:16.77]including non-standard ones like Black English,
[02:20.39]can be powerfully expressive
[02:22.41]--there exists no language or dialect in the world
[02:26.13]that cannot convey complex ideas.
[02:29.36]He is not arguing, as many do, that we can
[02:32.49]no longer think straight because we do not talk proper.
[02:35.61]在线英语听力室(www.tingroom.com)友情制作
[02:37.01]Russians have a deep love for their own language
[02:40.14]and carry chunks⁷ of memorized poetry in their heads,
[02:43.96]while Italian politicians tend to elaborate speech
[02:47.61]that would seem old-fashioned to most English-speakers.
[02:51.43]Mr. McWhorter acknowledges
[02:53.07]that formal language is not strictly⁸ necessary,
[02:56.29]and proposes no radical⁹ education reforms--
[03:00.73]he is really grieving over
[03:02.29]the loss of something beautiful more than useful.
[03:06.74]We now take our English "on paper plates instead of china."
[03:11.27]A shame, perhaps, but probably an inevitable¹⁰ one.

1 aspire   

vi.(to，after)渴望，追求，有志于

参考例句：

• Living together with you is what I aspire toward in my life.和你一起生活是我一生最大的愿望。
• I aspire to be an innovator not a follower.我迫切希望能变成个开创者而不是跟随者。

2 degradation   

n.降级；低落；退化；陵削；降解；衰变

参考例句：

• There are serious problems of land degradation in some arid zones.在一些干旱地带存在严重的土地退化问题。
• Gambling is always coupled with degradation.赌博总是与堕落相联系。

3 linguist   

n.语言学家；精通数种外国语言者

参考例句：

• I used to be a linguist till I become a writer.过去我是个语言学家，后来成了作家。
• Professor Cui has a high reputation as a linguist.崔教授作为语言学家名声很高。

4 cult   

n.异教，邪教；时尚，狂热的崇拜

参考例句：

• Her books aren't bestsellers,but they have a certain cult following.她的书算不上畅销书，但有一定的崇拜者。
• The cult of sun worship is probably the most primitive one.太阳崇拜仪式或许是最为原始的一种。

5 disappearance   

n.消失，消散，失踪

参考例句：

• He was hard put to it to explain her disappearance.他难以说明她为什么不见了。
• Her disappearance gave rise to the wildest rumours.她失踪一事引起了各种流言蜚语。

6 authentic   

a.真的，真正的；可靠的，可信的，有根据的

参考例句：

• This is an authentic news report. We can depend on it. 这是篇可靠的新闻报道, 我们相信它。
• Autumn is also the authentic season of renewal. 秋天才是真正的除旧布新的季节。

7 chunks   

厚厚的一块( chunk的名词复数 )； （某物）相当大的数量或部分

参考例句：

• a tin of pineapple chunks 一罐菠萝块
• Those chunks of meat are rather large—could you chop them up a bIt'smaller? 这些肉块相当大，还能再切小一点吗？

8 strictly   

adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地

参考例句：

• His doctor is dieting him strictly.他的医生严格规定他的饮食。
• The guests were seated strictly in order of precedence.客人严格按照地位高低就座。

9 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

10 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。