資源描述：
《politics and the english language 政治和英語語言 喬治奧威爾》由會(huì)員上傳分享，免費(fèi)在線閱讀，更多相關(guān)內(nèi)容在教育資源-天天文庫。
1、GeorgeOrwellPoliticsandtheEnglishLanguageMostpeoplewhobotherwiththematteratallwouldadmitthattheEnglishlanguageisinabadway,butitisgenerallyassumedthatwecannotbyconsciousactiondoanythingaboutit.Ourcivilizationisdecadentandourlanguage—sotheargumentruns—mustinevitablyshareinthegeneral
2、collapse.Itfollowsthatanystruggleagainsttheabuseoflanguageisasentimentalarchaism,likepreferringcandlestoelectriclightorhansomcabstoaeroplanes.Underneaththisliesthehalf-consciousbeliefthatlanguageisanaturalgrowthandnotaninstrumentwhichweshapeforourownpurposes.Now,itisclearthatthede
3、clineofalanguagemustultimatelyhavepoliticalandeconomiccauses:itisnotduesimplytothebadinfluenceofthisorthatindividualwriter.Butaneffectcanbecomeacause,reinforcingtheoriginalcauseandproducingthesameeffectinanintensifiedform,andsoonindefinitely.Amanmaytaketodrinkbecausehefeelshimself
4、tobeafailure,andthenfailallthemorecompletelybecausehedrinks.ItisratherthesamethingthatishappeningtotheEnglishlanguage.Itbecomesuglyandinaccuratebecauseourthoughtsarefoolish,buttheslovenlinessofourlanguagemakesiteasierforustohavefoolishthoughts.Thepointisthattheprocessisreversible.
5、ModernEnglish,especiallywrittenEnglish,isfullofbadhabitswhichspreadbyimitationandwhichcanbeavoidedifoneiswillingtotakethenecessarytrouble.Ifonegetsridofthesehabitsonecanthinkmoreclearly,andtothinkclearlyisanecessaryfirststeptowardpoliticalregeneration:sothatthefightagainstbadEngli
6、shisnotfrivolousandisnottheexclusiveconcernofprofessionalwriters.Iwillcomebacktothispresently,andIhopethatbythattimethemeaningofwhatIhavesaidherewillhavebecomeclearer.Meanwhile,herearefivespecimensoftheEnglishlanguageasitisnowhabituallywritten.Thesefivepassageshavenotbeenpickedout
7、becausetheyareespeciallybad—IcouldhavequotedfarworseifIhadchosen—butbecausetheyillustratevariousofthementalvicesfromwhichwenowsuffer.Theyarealittlebelowtheaverage,butarefairlyrepresentativeexamples.InumberthemsothatIcanreferbacktothemwhennecessary:1.Iamnot,indeed,surewhetheritisno
8、ttruetosaythattheMiltonwhooncesee
