Section A: Banked Cloze
Directions: In this section, there is a passage with ten blanks. You are required to select one word for each blank from a list of choices given in a word bank following the passage. Read the passage through carefully before making your choices. Each choice in the bank is identified by a letter. Please mark the corresponding letter for each item on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre. You may not use any of the words in the bank more than once.
It’s best to think of an accent as a distinct, systematic and rule-governed way of speaking. Accent is not a (26) ______ for dialect, but it’s related. Dialect is an umbrella term for the way a community pronounces words, creates words, and orders words; accent refers to that first part only.
Many (27) ______ presume that there is a single standard way of speaking in each country, with one single standard accent, and that this perceived standard is (28) ______ the best form of speech, but linguists (语言学家) often point out that the concept of a standard accent is better understood as an ideal rather than a (29) ______. In other words, no one speaks “standard English”; rather, it is an imagined way of using language that exists only in grammar and style books.
One reason linguists agree there is no one true standard is that, through the years, there have been (30) ______ supposed standards, depending on time and place. The standard for English in British newsreels (新闻片) from the 1950s, for example, differs greatly from the standard found on American national news broadcasts today. In fact, there has never been a single standard that’s been fully agreed upon — and broadcast outlets across the (31) ______ have never consistently held to those standards anyway.
Even so, this idea of a standard accent is (32) ______ and many workplace and educational environments perpetuate the idea that accents that (33) ______ from the current standard are less appropriate, or even inappropriate. Scholars have found that southern U.S. accent features are more accepted in (34) ______ such as government, law and service-oriented workplaces, but less accepted in the technology sector. The acceptability of nonstandard accents may (35) ______ with differences in class and culture, with newer or higher prestige industries expecting more standard speech in the workplace.
Answers & Explanations (答案与解析)
Section A: Banked Cloze
26. N (synonym)。解析：空格在不定冠词 `a` 和介词 `for` 之间，需要填入单数名词。句意：“口音并不是方言的______，但两者相关”。选项 `synonym`（同义词）最契合，表示口音并不等同于方言（not a synonym for dialect）。
27. G (laymen)。解析：空格作主语，且谓语动词为原形 `presume`，需要填入复数名词。后文出现了表示转折的 `but linguists`（但语言学家指出），说明前面应填入与专家相对立的人群。选项 `laymen`（外行，门外汉）完美对应。
28. F (inherently)。解析：空格在系动词 `is` 和表语 `the best form` 之间，需要填入副词。句意：“这种被认知的标准被认为是______最好的言语形式”。选项 `inherently`（本质上地，固有地）符合语境。
29. J (reality)。解析：空格前有 `rather than a`，需要填入单数名词，且需要与前文的 `an ideal`（理想）形成对比。语言学家认为标准口音是一种理想，而不是一种“现实”。选项 `reality`（现实）构成反义对比。
30. H (multiple)。解析：空格在 `have been` 之后，修饰复数名词 `supposed standards`，需要填入形容词。结合前文“没有唯一真正的标准”，说明多年来存在着“多个/多种”假定的标准。选项 `multiple`（多个的）符合语意。
31. M (spectrum)。解析：空格位于 `across the` 之后，需要填入名词。`across the spectrum` 是固定搭配，意为“遍及各个范围/领域”。此处指各界广播机构从未一致坚持过这些标准。选 `spectrum`（范围，光谱）。
32. E (influential)。解析：空格作表语，且句首是 `Even so`（尽管如此）表示转折。前文说不存在唯一的标准口音，后文却说职场和教育环境仍在延续这种观念，说明这种想法依然“有影响力的”。选项 `influential`（有影响力的）最恰当。
33. C (deviate)。解析：空格位于定语从句中作谓语，且需要能与介词 `from` 搭配。句意为“______当前标准的口音被认为是不太合适的”。选项 `deviate`（偏离，背离）完美契合。
34. D (domains)。解析：空格在介词 `in` 之后，后文由 `such as government...`（如政府、法律等）举例说明，需要填入表示“领域、范围”的复数名词。选项 `domains`（领域）符合语境。
35. B (correlate)。解析：空格在情态动词 `may` 之后，需要填入动词原形，且与介词 `with` 搭配。句意：“非标准口音的可接受度可能与阶层和文化的差异______”。选项 `correlate`（相关联；correlate with）符合语法和语意。
【核心搭配与高分句型】
umbrella term：涵盖性术语，总称（Dialect is an umbrella term for...）
rule-governed：受规则支配的，有规律的（a systematic and rule-governed way of speaking）
rather than：而不是（understood as an ideal rather than a reality）
agree upon：对...取得一致意见（a single standard that’s been fully agreed upon）
across the spectrum：遍及整个范围，各界（broadcast outlets across the spectrum）
perpetuate the idea：使...观念持久/长存（environments perpetuate the idea that...）
deviate from：偏离，背离（accents that deviate from the current standard）
service-oriented：服务导向的（service-oriented workplaces）
correlate with：与...相关联（may correlate with differences in class and culture）
全文翻译
最好把口音看作一种独特的、系统性的、受规则支配的说话方式。口音不是方言的替代词，但它是相关的。方言是一个总括性术语，指一个社区发音、创造词汇和排列词语的方式；口音仅指第一部分。
许多人想当然地认为每个国家只有一种标准的说话方式，只有一种标准口音，并且这种被认为的标准内在就是最好的语言形式，但语言学家经常指出，标准口音的概念更好地理解为一种理想而非现实。换句话说，没有人说"标准英语"；相反，它是一种想象中的使用语言的方式，只存在于语法和写作指南中。
语言学家一致认为没有一种真正的标准口音，原因之一是，这些年来，根据时间和地点的不同，一直有各种所谓的标准。例如，20世纪50年代英国新闻片中英语的标准，与今天美国全国新闻广播中的标准有很大不同。事实上，从来就没有一种被完全认可的统一标准——而且各地的广播媒体也从未始终如一地遵守这些标准。
即便如此，这种标准口音的观念是普遍存在的，许多职场和教育环境都在延续这样一种观念，即偏离当前标准的口音不太合适，甚至是不合适的。学者们发现，美国南部口音特征在政府、法律和服务导向的工作场所等环境中更容易被接受，但在科技领域接受度较低。非标准口音的可接受程度可能与阶层和文化差异相关，新兴或更高声望的行业期望在工作场所中使用更标准的语言。