Vague language is not totally accurate or clear. Although some people think this is “bad” English, all native English speakers use vague language when they are unable to give accurate information, or they think it is either unnecessary or socially inappropriate to do so. A good example of vague language is rounding up numbers when telling the time. Twenty-six minutes past two becomes:
It’s about half past two.
It’s almost half past two.
It’s nearly half past two.
Often, speakers use vague language not because they do not have accurate information, but because they feel it is more polite to make a less definite (明确的) statement. It is wrong to say “I’m not sure that’s completely correct.”
As short definite statements sometimes sound too assertive (独断的) to native English speakers, they often add extra vague language to a sentence. This extra language has no extra meaning; it is just a social softener.
The use of vague language differs from language to language and is an important cultural consideration when doing business in a foreign language. Native English speakers, for example, can find Germans direct because Germans use little vague language. On the other hand, for Germans, native English speakers can sound indecisive, inaccurate and lacking in authority. In both cases they are reacting to characteristics of the language, not their business partner.
Sometimes a speaker might start a list of some kind and then cannot remember the rest of the list or does not think the other items are important enough to mention. In these cases, list completers are ideal:
“I typed some letters, reports and other things like that.”
“You have to ask a doctor or a lawyer or someone like that.”
46. Native English speakers often use vague language _____.
A. to be more polite B. to get more benefits
C. to mislead competitors D. to save themselves some trouble
47. Which of the following are you expected to say when communicating with a German?
A. It costs twenty pounds or so.
B. It’s four minutes to ten.
C. We say around three or four o’clock.
D. I’ve been to Prague a couple of times.
48. According to the text, which of the following can serve as a list completer?
A. Or so. B. Or else. C. And then. D. And the like.
本文向我们介绍了含糊语言的含义以及它在人们日常生活和工作中的作用。
46. A。细节理解题。由第二段中的Often, speakers use vague language not because they do not have accurate information, but because they feel it is more polite to make a less definite statement可知，说英语的人使用含糊语言主要是为了表示礼貌。
47. B。推理判断题。由第四段中的On the other hand, for Germans, native English speakers can sound indecisive, inaccurate and lacking in authority可知，德国人喜欢使用直接的和精确的语言。
48. D。推理判断题。由文章中对list completer的描述以及所举的实例可以看出，D选项And the like(以及诸如此类)符合list completer的特点。
名校课堂系列答案科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
Kincaid looked at his watch: eight-seventeen. The truck started on the second try, and he backed out, shifted gears, and moved slowly down the alley under hazy sun. Through the streets of Bellingham he went, heading south on Washington 11, running along the coast of Puget Sound for a few miles, then following the highway as it swung east a little before meeting U.S Route 20.
Turning into the sun, he began the long, winding drive through the Cascades. He liked this country and felt unpressed stopping now and then to make notes about interesting possibilities for future expeditions or to shoot what he called “memory snapshots.” The purpose of these causal photographs was to remind him of places he might want to visit again and approach more seriously. In later afternoon he turned north at Spokane, picking up U.S Route 2, which would take him halfway across the northern United States to Duluth, Minnesota.
He wished for the thousandth time in his life that he had a dog, a golden retriever, maybe, for travels like this and to keep him company at home. But he was frequently away; overseas much of the time and it would not be fair to the animal. Still, he thought about it anyway. In a few years he would be getting too old for the hard fieldwork. “I must get a dog then.” He said to himself.
Drives like this always put him into a sentimental mood. The dog was part of it. Robert Kincaid was alone as it’s possible to be – an only child, parents both dead, distant relatives who had lost track of him and he of them, no close friends.
He thought about Marian. She had left him nine years ago after five years of marriage. He was fifty–two now, that would make her just under forty. Marian had dreams of becoming a musician, a folksinger. She knew all of the Weavers’ songs and sang them pretty well in the coffeehouse of Seattle. When he was home in the old days, he drove her to the shows and sat in the audience while she sang.
His long absences – two or three months sometimes – were hard on the marriage. He knew that. She was aware of what he did when they decided to get married, and both of them had a vague (not clear) sense that it could all be handled somehow. It couldn’t when he came from photographing a story in Iceland and, she was gone. The note read, “Robert, it didn’t work out, I left you the Harmony guitar. Stay in touch.”
He didn’t stay in touch. Neither did she. He signed the divorce papers when they arrived a year later and caught a plane for Australia the next day. She had asked for nothing except her freedom.
Which route is the right one taken by Kincaid?
A. Bellingham – Washington 11 – Puget Sound – U.S Route 20 – U.S Route 2 – Duluth
B. U.S. Route 2 – Bellingham – Washington 11 – Puget Sound – U.S Route 20 – Duluth
C. U.S. Route 2 – U.S Route 20 – Duluth – Bellingham – Washington 11
D. Bellingham – Washington 11 –U.S. Route 2 –U.S Route 20 –Duluth
Which statement is true according to the passage?
A. Kincaid’s parents were dead and he only kept in touch with some distant relatives.
B. Kincaid would have had a dog if he hadn’t been away from home too much.
C. Kincaid used to have a golden retriever.
D. Kincaid needed a dog in doing his hard fieldwork.
Why did Kincaid stop to take photos while driving?
A. To write “memory snapshots”.
B. To remind himself of places he might want to visit again.
C. To avoid forgetting the way back.
D. To shoot beautiful scenery along the road.
What can you know about Marian?
A. She died after five years of marriage.
B. She was older than Kincaid.
C. She could sing very well and earned big money.
D. She was not a professional pop singer.
We can draw a conclusion from the passage that _____
A. Marian knew what would happen before she married Kincaid.
B. Kincaid thought his absence would be a problem when he married Marian.
C. It turned out that Marian could not stand Kincaid’s absence and left him.
D. After Marian left him, they still kept in touch with each other.
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科目：高中英语 来源：2010－2011学年度北京一零一中高二第二学段模块英语卷（必修6） 题型：完型填空
阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，从每题所给的A、B、C、D 四个选项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
I remember my dad teaching me the power of language at a very young age.
One fairly interesting event happened when I was eight. As a kid, I was always climbing trees, poles, and __31__ around upside down from the rafters (房梁) of our house. So, it __32__ to no surprise for my dad to __33__ me at the top of a 30-foot tree swinging back and forth. Without realizing the tree could break or I could get __34__, I just thought it was__35__ to be up so high.
My cousin, Tammy, was in the same tree. She was hanging on the first big __36__ about ten feet below me. Tammy’s mother also __37__ us at the exact time my dad did. About that time a huge gust of wind came over the tree and I could feel the tree begin to sway. I remembered my dad’s __38__ over the wind yelling, “Bart, __39__ on tightly.” So I did.
The next thing I know, I heard Tammy __40__ at the top of her lungs, __41__ flat on the ground. She had fallen out of the tree.
I came down the tree to __42__. My dad later told me why Tammy fell and I didn’t. __43__, when Tammy’s mother felt the wind, she yelled out, “Tammy, don’t __44__!” And Tammy did do that.
My dad then __45__ to me that the mind has a very __46__ time dealing with a negative image. In order to deal with the __47__ of not falling, Tammy’s brain had to first imagine falling, and then tell the brain not to do what it just imagined. However, my eight-year-old brain __48__ had an internal image of hanging on tightly.
This “Self-Talk” is especially useful when you are __49__ to break a habit or set a goal. You can’t imagine not doing something in your mind. The only way to accomplish it is to find a word for what you want to do.
I’m now a pretty good football player, because all my internal dialogue is __50__ and encourages me to win. All this I owe to my dad.
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科目：高中英语 来源：天津四中2010届高三下学期模拟考试英语试卷 题型：完型填空
第二节完型填空（共20小题；每小题1.5分，满分30分）
请认真阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
“Two books per visit per week,” said the unsmiling librarian as she handed a library card. Neither the limits nor her attitude 16 me, a 9 – year – old Jewish girl growing up in Berlin in the 1950s. I needed those visits. The books were filled with stories in which, however 17 things seemed, everything 18 well in the end, 19 justice, bravery, and wisdom –--- a striking contrast (对比) to my everyday experiences.
Thirty years later, I, a recent immigrant to the US with a daughter aged 13, stood in front of another librarian. This librarian was 20 .
“What did she say?” I asked my daughter, who already knew a little English and often 21 as my interpreter.
“She said ‘Can I help you?’”
“Ask if they have any books in 22 ,” I requested.
“No, they don’t.” translated my daughter.
While hunting for a job, I was told that the library needed people to 23 books. The interview was short –--- the job didn’t require much English, just a 24 of the alphabet. I started the next day. Every day, I handled hundreds of books whose meaning was 25 from me, mentally dividing them by size and color. One day, while shelving, I found English for Beginners and began studying it on my own. 26 English letters started forming words I could 27 , words combined into phrases, and –--- oh, 28 ! –-- I was reading. It was a slow process, supported by dictionaries and 29 by tears, but it was progress. Afterwards I got promoted to the front desk ----- 30 books in and out and answering simple questions.
Every day I receive dozens of people. Sometimes I spot new immigrants. They come from all over the world, so they look different, but the hesitant expression on their faces and their 31 manners are similar. My heart goes out to them, 32 they are people like me. I fully understand the 33 roads on which they have stepped. “They’ve come to the right place,” I think to 34 . Then I smile and say – just the 35 a librarian said to me a long time ago –--- “Can I help you?”
16．A．surprised B．comforted C．puzzled D．shocked
17．A．attractive B．dull C．terrible D．strange
18．A．went out B．turned out C．ended in D．came up
19．A．rewarding B．affecting C．completing D．denying
20．A．chatting B．staring C．reading D．smiling
21．A．introduced B．instructed C．guided D．served
22．A．Spanish B．French C．Russian D．German
23．A．shelve B．register C．record D．mark
24．A．list B．knowledge C．line D．competence
25．A．vague B．simple C．hidden D．clear
26．A．All of a sudden B．In no time C．Step by step D．Now and then
27．A．recognize B．realize C．define D．interpret
28．A．challenge B．wonder C．opportunity D．news
29．A．inspired B．accompanied C．blocked D．excited
30．A．checking B．classifying C．borrowing D．lending
31．A．rough B．elegant C．polite D．shy
32．A．though B．until C．for D．unless
33．A．difficult B．smooth C．endless D．straight
34．A．me B．myself C．them D．themselves
35．A．means B．approach C．method D．way
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科目：高中英语 来源：2012-2013学年江苏省淮安中学高二上学期期中考试英语试卷（带解析） 题型：阅读理解
It was unusually quiet in the emergency room on December 25.
I was nurse on duty that day. I didn’t think there would be any patients, sighing about having to work on Christmas. Just then five bodies showed up at my desk, a pale woman and four small children.
“Are you all sick?” I asked suspiciously.
“Yes,” she said weakly and lowered her head.
But when it came to descriptions of their presenting problems, things got a little vague. Two of the children had headaches, but the headaches weren’t accompanied by the normal body language of holding the head or trying to keep it still. Two children had earaches, but only one could tell me which ear was affected. The mother complained of a cough but seemed to work to produce it.
Something was wrong, but I didn’t say anything but explained that it might be a little while before a doctor saw her. She responded, “Take your time; it’s warm here.”
On a hunch (出于直觉), I checked the chart after the admitting clerk had finished registering the family. No address---they were homeless. The waiting room was warm.
I looked out at the family huddled by the Christmas tree. The little one was pointing at the television and exclaiming something to her mother. The oldest one was looking at an ornament on the Christmas tree.
I went back to the nurses’ station and mentioned we had a homeless family in the waiting room. The nurses, grumbling about working Christmas, turned to compassion for a family just trying to get warm on Christmas. The team went into action, much as we do when there’s a medical emergency. But this one was a Christmas emergency.
We were all offered a free meal in the hospital cafeteria on Christmas Day, so we claimed that meal and prepared a banquet for our Christmas guests. We needed presents. We put together oranges and apples in a basket. We collected from different departments candies, crayons and other things available that could be presents. As seriously as we met the physical needs of the patients that came to us that day, our team worked to meet the needs, and exceed the expectations, of a family who just wanted to be warm on Christmas Day.
Later, as the family walked to the door to leave, the four year old came running back, gave me a hug and whispered, “Thanks for being our angels today.”
【小题1】Which of the following would be the best title of the passage?
| A．Working Christmas Day | B．Christmas Day is Coming |
| C．A Happy Family | D．A Pale Woman and Four Small Children |
| A．Hardworking and outgoing | B．Serious and careful |
| C．Hardworking and warmhearted | D．Serious and stubborn |
| A．Something was wrong with one of the children’s heads. |
| B．The pale woman forgot to write the address. |
| C．The author did not understand the truth. |
| D．The children’s mother told a lie. |
| A．The author didn’t think there would be any patients on Christmas Day |
| B．The woman was uncomfortable when she lowered her head |
| C．The family appeared in the emergency room on Christmas Eve |
| D．The woman and four small children were satisfied and grateful |
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科目：高中英语 来源：0910学年广东省汕头英华外国语高二下学期开学检测 题型：阅读理解
Kincaid looked at his watch: eight-seventeen. The truck started on the second try, and he backed out, shifted gears, and moved slowly down the alley under hazy sun. Through the streets of Bellingham he went, heading south on Washington 11, running along the coast of Puget Sound for a few miles, then following the highway as it swung east a little before meeting U.S Route 20.
Turning into the sun, he began the long, winding drive through the Cascades. He liked this country and felt unpressed stopping now and then to make notes about interesting possibilities for future expeditions or to shoot what he called “memory snapshots.” The purpose of these causal photographs was to remind him of places he might want to visit again and approach more seriously. In later afternoon he turned north at Spokane, picking up U.S Route 2, which would take him halfway across the northern United States to Duluth, Minnesota.
He wished for the thousandth time in his life that he had a dog, a golden retriever, maybe, for travels like this and to keep him company at home. But he was frequently away; overseas much of the time and it would not be fair to the animal. Still, he thought about it anyway. In a few years he would be getting too old for the hard fieldwork. “I must get a dog then.” He said to himself.
Drives like this always put him into a sentimental mood. The dog was part of it. Robert Kincaid was alone as it’s possible to be – an only child, parents both dead, distant relatives who had lost track of him and he of them, no close friends.
He thought about Marian. She had left him nine years ago after five years of marriage. He was fifty–two now, that would make her just under forty. Marian had dreams of becoming a musician, a folksinger. She knew all of the Weavers’ songs and sang them pretty well in the coffeehouse of Seattle. When he was home in the old days, he drove her to the shows and sat in the audience while she sang.
His long absences – two or three months sometimes – were hard on the marriage. He knew that. She was aware of what he did when they decided to get married, and both of them had a vague (not clear) sense that it could all be handled somehow. It couldn’t when he came from photographing a story in Iceland and, she was gone. The note read, “Robert, it didn’t work out, I left you the Harmony guitar. Stay in touch.”
He didn’t stay in touch. Neither did she. He signed the divorce papers when they arrived a year later and caught a plane for Australia the next day. She had asked for nothing except her freedom.
51. Which route is the right one taken by Kincaid?
A. Bellingham – Washington 11 – Puget Sound – U.S Route 20 – U.S Route 2 – Duluth
B. U.S. Route 2 – Bellingham – Washington 11 – Puget Sound – U.S Route 20 – Duluth
C. U.S. Route 2 – U.S Route 20 – Duluth – Bellingham – Washington 11
D. Bellingham – Washington 11 –U.S. Route 2 –U.S Route 20 –Duluth
52. Which statement is true according to the passage?
A. Kincaid’s parents were dead and he only kept in touch with some distant relatives.
B. Kincaid would have had a dog if he hadn’t been away from home too much.
C. Kincaid used to have a golden retriever.
D. Kincaid needed a dog in doing his hard fieldwork.
53. Why did Kincaid stop to take photos while driving?
A. To write “memory snapshots”.
B. To remind himself of places he might want to visit again.
C. To avoid forgetting the way back.
D. To shoot beautiful scenery along the road.
54. What can you know about Marian?
A. She died after five years of marriage.
B. She was older than Kincaid.
C. She could sing very well and earned big money.
D. She was not a professional pop singer.
55. We can draw a conclusion from the passage that _____
A. Marian knew what would happen before she married Kincaid.
B. Kincaid thought his absence would be a problem when he married Marian.
C. It turned out that Marian could not stand Kincaid’s absence and left him.
D. After Marian left him, they still kept in touch with each other.
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