What makes the second premise problematic is the use of the Puritan colonies as a basis for comparison. Quite properly, Davis decries the excessive influence ascribed by historians to the Puritans in the formation of American culture. Yet Davis inadvertently adds weight to such ascriptions by using the Puritans as the standard against which to assess the achievements and contributions of Southern colonials. Throughout, Davis focuses on the important, and undeniable, differences between the Southern and Puritan colonies in motives for and patterns of early settlement, in attitudes toward nature and native Americans, and in the degree of receptivity to metropolitan cultural influences②.
However, recent scholarship has strongly suggested that those aspects of early New England culture that seem to have been most distinctly Puritan, such as the strong religions orientation and the communal impulse, were not even typical of New England as a whole, but were largely confined to the two colonies of Massachusetts and Connecticut③. Thus, what in contrast to the Puritan colonies appears to Davis to be peculiarly Southern—acquisitiveness, a strong interest in politics and the law, and a tendency to cultivate metropolitan cultural models—was not only more typically English than the cultural patterns exhibited by Puritan Massachusetts and Connecticut, but also almost certainly characteristic of most other early modern British colonies from Barbados north to Rhode Island and New Hampshire④. Within the larger framework of American colonial life, then, not the Southern but the Puritan colonies appear to have been distinctive, and even they seem to have been rapidly assimilating to the dominant cultural patterns by the last Colonial period.
The author is primarily concerned with ______.
A. refuting a claim about the influence of Puritan culture on the early American South
B. refuting a thesis about the distinctiveness of the culture of the early American South
C. refuting the two premises that underlie Davis' discussion of the culture of America
D. challenging the hypothesis that early American Culture was homogeneous in nature
"Junk English is much more than loose and casual grammar. It is a signal of human weaknesses and cultural license: abandoning the language of the educated yet giving birth to its own self-glorifying words and phrases, favoring appearance over substance, broadness over precision, and loudness above all. It is some times innocent, sometimes lazy, sometimes well intended, but most often it is a trick we play on ourselves to make the unremarkable seem important. Its scope has been widened by politicians, business executives, and the PR and advertising industries in their employ, who use it to spread fog before facts they would rather keep hidden. The result is...a world of humbug in which the more we read and hear, the less we know."
Smith is, of course, saying something not true—it is difficult to imagine that Junk English will be noticed, much less read, by those who most could profit from it—but it is an instructive and entertaining instructions and explanation all the same. He tries his hands at all the right places—jargon, clichés, euphemisms, and exaggeration—but he doesn't swing blindly. "Although jargon often sounds ugly to outsiders, it speeds communication within the community that uses it"—and that "clichés, though popular objects of scorn, are useful when they most compactly express an idea; deliberate avoidance of an appropriate cliché sometimes produces even worse writing."
In other words, Smith may be passionate but he's also sensible. In a section about "free-for-all verbs," for example, he acknowledges that "There is no law against inventing one's own verbs" before citing a few funny instances of what happens when "Things get a little out of hand," i.e. "We're efforting to work this out" or "She tried to guilt him into returning the money." In the end, though, being sensible about language is in essence trying to insist that words mean what they properly mean and are used accordingly. Thus, for example, Smith insists that "dialogue" and "discussion" are not synonyms and should not be used interchangeably; that "complimentary" does not mean "free"; that "experience" does not mean "feel"; that "facilitate" does not mean "ease'; that "generate" does not mean "produce"; that "lifestyle'' does not mean "life".
Smith obviously has spent a lot of time making notes about the ways in which we ruin and abuse our language, with results that are impressive in their thoroughness and depressing in their going to far②. Occasionally he overlooks the obvious—among euphemisms he mentions "customer care representative" but not "courtesy call," and among the previously mentioned palsy-walsy language he inexplicably overlooks "Your call is important to us"—but then, as he says at the outset, he intended to write a short book and as a result had to leave out many misdeeds. The ones he includes more than do the job.
Which of the following best describes junk English?
A. Overblown.
B. Complicated.
C. Vulgar.
D. Unfashionable, outdated.
The National Trust in Britain, together with similar voluntary organizations, plays an increasingly important part in the preservation for public enjoyment of the best that is left unspoiled of the British country side. Although the Trust has received practical and moral support from the government, it is not a rich government, supported by public taxes. It is a voluntary association of people who care for the unspoiled countryside and the ancient sites to preserve them for the permanent enjoyment of the public. It is a charity, which depends for its existence on voluntary support from members of the public. It has 160,000 members in England, Wales and Northern Ireland who pay a small subscription each year, and its primary duties are to protect for the nation places of great natural beauty and places of historical interest and preserve them from the dangers of modern development and extinction.
The attention of the public was first drawn to the dangers threatening the great old houses and castles of Britain by the late Lord Lothian, who in 1935 said that, as a result of taxation and estate duty, most of these ancient houses were under sentence of death①. When he died he left his great seventh century house and all its contents to the Trust Together with 4,500-acre park and estate surrounding it. This gift attracted wide publicity and it started the Trust's "Country House Scheme". Under the scheme, with the cooperation of the government and thanks to the generosity of the general public, the Trust has been able to save and make accessible to the public about one hundred and fifty of these old houses, together with often very valuable contents. Whenever possible, the Trust seeks to maintain continuity and to preserve these as living realities rather than as dead museums. It is the view of the Trust that the families who give them to the nation and whose ancestors created them make the best possible curators.
In addition to country houses and open spaces the Trust now owns some examples of ancient wind and water mills, gardens, Roman antiquities, farms and small villages, cultural parks, as well as complete villages. In these villages no one is allowed to build, develop or disturb the old village environment and all houses completely maintain their original sixteenth-century style. The public definitely has free access to these areas and is only asked to respect the peace, beauty and wildlife. The preservation was part of history of Britain, and is now practiced by its organization, certainly will be carried on in the future, therefore, those cultural and historical relics will exist forever as long as people care for the environment in which they are living, both natural and cultural②.
What is the possible meaning of "subscription" in the first paragraph?
A. The donation by the citizens.
B. The fee paid by the person with the membership of the Trust.
C. The money used to repair the ancient houses.
D. Support granted by the government.
Nakasone gives every sign of being secure in his desire to reduce a Japanese surplus in trade with the US that hit 36.8 billion dollars in 1984 and could soon top billion. Yet to rely on any Japanese political leader, no matter how popular he is at home, to reverse trade policies is to underestimate the culture and traditions that weigh heavily against a breakthrough②. Big business and dozens of anonymous bureaucrats have as much power as Japan's top elected leaders. "The whole concept that we can turn this around right now is obviously ridiculous," says an American trader who has lived and worked here since 1952. "The vested interests are being shaken and slowly moved, but at a pace too slow for the eye to follow." That view is echoed by a US diplomat closely involved in the efforts to open the Japanese market to American goods, Washington's main solution to the ballooning trade ambulance. "Japan is a relationship society rather than a transactional one," he says. "You cannot alter that kind of a system with a television speech or a few general proposals, no matter how well-intended they are."
Beyond specific tariffs or other official barriers to imports, experts here say that the US faces these obstacles. Nearly total domination of the Japanese market by a few dozen giant conglomerates that strongly op pose even token competition—be it from abroad or emerging domestic firms. An elite, thickly layered bureaucracy that historically has drafted laws and regulations as well as enforced them, and both of these powers would be threatened by trade reforms. A longtime relationship between business and government that critics say fosters collusion and hinders foreign entry into domestic markets③.
Which of the following would be the best title for the text?
A. Trade War between Japan and the US
B. It's time to Remove Japanese Trade Barrier
C. The US Desires to Reduce a Japanese Surplus in Trade
D. Why Japan Won't Submit to US Trade Demands