GRE全真考試題

The common belief of some linguists that each language is a perfect vehicle for the thoughts of the nation speaking it is in some ways the exact counterpart of the conviction of the Manchester school of economics that supply and demand will regulate everything for the best. Just as economists were blind to the numerous cases in which the law of supply and demand left actual wants unsatisfied, so also many linguists are deaf to those instances in which the very nature of a language calls forth misunderstandings in everyday conversation, and in which, consequently, a word has to be modified or defined in order to present the idea intended by the speaker: "He took his stick-no, not John s, but his own. " No language is perfect, and if we admit this truth, we must also admit that it is not unreasonable to investigate the relative merits of different languages or of different details in primary purpose of the passage is to analyze an interesting feature of the English language refute a belief held by some linguists show that economic theory is relevant to linguistic study illustrate the confusion that can result from the improper use of language suggest a way in which languages can be made more nearly perfect

答案：(B)

某些語言學家的一種普遍信念是，每種語言都是一個載體，可用來完美地表達操該種語言的民族的思想，ＧＲＥ全真考試題三，其它考試《ＧＲＥ全真考試題三》。在某種程度上，這一語言學思想與曼徹斯特經濟學派所堅信的觀點如出一轍，構成了一種絕然的.對等理論。該經濟學派認為，供求關係制約著一切並使一切趨勢於最佳狀態。正如這些經濟家對供求規律所造成的使實際需求不得滿足的諸般例項視而不見那樣，同樣地，許多語言學家對下述情形也可謂是充耳不聞。在此類情形中，語言的性質本身就有可能導致日常交談中的種種誤解，因此在這種情況下，一個詞語必須經過修飾或界定之後，才有可能表達說話者所意欲表述的那層涵義：“他拿了他的柺杖——不，不是約翰的，而是他自己的。”沒有任何語言是盡善盡美的，假如我們承認這一真理，我們同樣也必須承認，對不同語言的相對優劣，或對不同語言中的不同細節進行分析，這並非不合情理。

The misunderstanding presented by the author in lines 19-20 is similar to which of the following?

I.X uses the word "you" to refer to a group, but Y thinks that X is referring to one person only.

II. X mistakenly uses the word "anomaly" to refer to a typical example, but Y knows that "anomaly" means "exception."