【D】
         People use words, of course, to express their thoughts and feelings. As everyone knows who hastried to write, choosing just the right word to express an idea can be difficult. Nevertheless, it isimportant to choose words carefully, for words can suggest meanings not intended at all. In fact,words can also be used to deceive. In order to express ourselves accurately and to understand whatother people express, we must be aware that words can camouflage real attitudes. English is full ofexamples.
          Experts at camouflage are those in advertising. Advertisers obviously want to emphasize thevirtues of their products and detract from the products’ faults. To do this, they use carefully chosenwords to mislead the unwary customer. Carl P. Wrighter in his book I can Sell You Anything hasdubbed “weasel words,” which the dictionary defines as words “used in order to evade or retreatfrom a direct or forthright statement or position.”
         For example, the advertiser wants you to think that using his product will require no work ortrouble. He cannot state that the product will be trouble free because there is usually no suchguarantee； instead, he suggests it by using the expression “virtually,” as in this product is “virtuallytrouble free.” The careless listener will ignore the qualifier “virtually” and imagine that the product isno trouble at all. Another misleading expression is “up to.” During a sale, a car dealer may advertisereductions of “up to 25 percent.” Our inclination again is to ignore “up to” and think that most of thereductions are 25 percent, but too often we find that only a few products are reduced this much. Theother day I saw a sign on a shoe store advertising “up to 40% off” for athletic shoes. Needing somewalking shoes and wanting a good bargain, I went in, only to find that there were merely a few shoesmarked down by 40 percent； most of the shoes were not even on sale.
         Just as “weasel words” are used to engender favorable impressions, so are euphemisms. Aeuphemism is defined as “the substitution of an agreeable for inoffensive expression for one that mayoffend or suggest something unpleasant.” We often use euphemisms when our intentions are good.For instance, it is difficult to accept that someone we love has died, so people use all kinds ofeuphemisms for death such as “She passed away,” “He’s gone to meet his maker,” or “She is nolonger with us.” To defend against the pain of such a reality, some use the humorous euphemism,“He’s kicked the bucket.” To make certain jobs sound less unappealing, people use euphemisms. Ajanitor is now a “custodial worker” or “maintenance person.” A trash man may be called a “sanitationengineer.” Such euphemisms are not harmful, but sometimes euphemisms can be used to camouflagepotentially controversial or objectionable actions. For example, instead of saying we need to raisetaxes, a politician might tell the public that we need “revenue enhancement measure.” Whenpsychologists kill an animal they have experimented with, they prefer to use the term “sacrifice” theanimal. Doctors prefer “terminate a pregnancy” to “abort the fetus.”
          A final example of language that conveys unintended impressions is sexist language. Sexistlanguage refers to expressions that demean females in some way. For instance, when someone refersto a grown woman as a “girl,” the implication is that she is still a child. Therefore, instead of anemployer saying, “I’ll have my girl type that,” what should be said is, “I’ll have my assistant (orsecretary) type that.” Other offensive expressions include “young things,” as in “She’s a cute youngthing.” The proper term, “girl,” should be used in this case, since the “thing” is a young female.Further, the names of many jobs suggest women should not fill these positions. Thus, we use “chair”or “chairperson” instead of the sexist “chairman.” Likewise, a “foreman” should be called a“supervisor.”
         We must always be careful to choose the words that convey what we really mean. If we do notwant to give offense, then we should always be on guard against sexist (as well as racist) language. Ifwe do not want to be misled by advertisements, we must keep our ears open for weasel words.Finally, when we use a euphemism, we should be aware that we are trying to make an idea moreacceptable. At times this may be preferable, but let’s not forget that euphemisms camouflage reality.After all, “coloring the truth” is still lying.
【題組】47. What is the main idea of this passage?
(A) Do not trust language of advertising because it often exaggerates, and it is usually too goodto be true.
(B) Examples of words that camouflage can be found in advertising, euphemisms, as well assexist language.
(C) Sexist language is often offensive to women and children, rather than men.[!--empirenews.page--]
(D) People should be encouraged to use euphemisms and avoid sexist language in their dailylife.