词汇大师(Wordmaster)--'The Language Police,' Part 2

Broadcast on "Coast to Coast": May 8, 2003

AA: I'm Avi Arditti with Rosanne Skirble and this week on Wordmaster -- a response to the issues we raised last week when we talked about a new book called "The Language Police: How Pressure Groups Restrict What Students Learn."

RS: The author, Diane Ravitch, says educational publishers -- pressured by all kinds of groups and by consolidation¹ within their own industry -- have gone too far with what are called "bias² and sensitivity guidelines."

AA: This week, we hear from the other side, the major publishers of textbooks for kindergarten through twelfth grade. Steve Driesler is executive director of the school division of the Association of American Publishers.

DRIESLER: "I think the most important thing that your listeners need to understand is that the textbooks that are published today are published to the designs and specifications³ of what our customers want and demand. Textbook publishers, particularly in the 20 adoption⁴ states -- those are the states that have some centralized system of reviewing and approving or disapproving⁵ textbooks for purchase within that state, and we're talking about states like California and Texas and Florida. And they specify⁶, and sometimes with great detail, what they want and what they don't want in their textbooks.

"And the publisher then has one of two options: either they publish a book that the customer wants and will purchase, and will get approved in those states and in those markets, or they don't. And since you're talking about states -- nearly half the states in the country but probably in terms of the purchasing power probably over half the books that are purchased, the market reality is that you've got to listen to your customers and produce books that they tell you that they want."

AA: "Now what about the power and influence of what Diane Ravitch calls 'pressure groups' -- both on the right and the left politically -- which she contends are pressuring the customers, the schools, and I guess then the publishers, to -- in her words -- 'censor⁷' and 'sanitize' their language of anything that seems even remotely controversial"?

DRIESLER: "Well, I think she's right in terms that there are pressure groups out there. Remember, we live in a democratic society, a very pluralistic diverse democratic society, and so, yes, groups from the left, groups from the right, interest groups representing race, religion, ethnicity, gender⁹, all often times want to have a say in the textbooks that their children use and that are purchased with their tax dollars."

RS: "The result, she contends in her book, is sometimes that the book becomes unreadable in some senses, that there are words or euphemisms¹⁰ that are used for words that are not natural. Do you have some of those words there?"

AA: "I'm looking through the back of her book. Here's a glossary¹¹ of banned words -- 'backward country,' banned as ethnocentric when referring to cultural differences. 'Backwoodsman,' banned as sexist, replace with 'pioneer.' 'Ball and chain,' banned as sexist, replace with 'spouse¹²,' 'wife,' 'partner.' Now I could see, if I were writing a textbook, I wouldn't want to refer to a spouse, a wife, as a 'ball and chain.' Clearly that would be sexist. (laughter)"

DRIESLER: "That would probably be a little bit offensive to some people."

RS: "But how do you react to -- I mean, is it true that there are these word lists?"

DRIESLER: "Well, again, each publisher decides how they're going to deal with this. But yes there are -- you know, the publishers are in a situation, quite bluntly, where they're sort of dammed if they do and damned if they don't. If they used words like 'backwoodsman' or 'ball and chain' or whatever those other words were that you just read off to me -- "

AA: "Even the word 'hut' here, you're supposed to use 'small houses' instead, because huts could be construed¹³ as ethnocentric, according to this one publisher's guidelines."

DRIESLER: "Then some parent or parent groups go to a board of education meeting and they complain that their child felt discriminated¹⁴ against because the country of their ethnic⁸ origin was described as 'backwoods' or 'backwards,' and people living in 'huts,' and that it didn't really reflect the true richness of the culture of that country. So if they make those changes to solve the sensitivity or to be sensitive to the complaints of that group, then Miss Ravitch comes along and complains that it's censorship."

AA: Steve Driesler, executive director of the school division of the Association of American Publishers. And that's Wordmaster for this week.

RS: Our e-mail address is [email protected], and you'll find all of our programs on the Web at voanews.com/wordmaster. With Avi Arditti, I'm Rosanne Skirble.

1 consolidation   

n.合并,巩固

参考例句：

• The denser population necessitates closer consolidation both for internal and external action. 住得日益稠密的居民，对内和对外都不得不更紧密地团结起来。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• The state ensures the consolidation and growth of the state economy. 国家保障国营经济的巩固和发展。 来自汉英非文学 - 中国宪法

2 bias   

n.偏见，偏心，偏袒；vt.使有偏见

参考例句：

• They are accusing the teacher of political bias in his marking.他们在指控那名教师打分数有政治偏见。
• He had a bias toward the plan.他对这项计划有偏见。

3 specifications   

n.规格；载明；详述；（产品等的）说明书；说明书( specification的名词复数 )；详细的计划书；载明；详述

参考例句：

• Our work must answer the specifications laid down. 我们的工作应符合所定的规范。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This sketch does not conform with the specifications. 图文不符。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 adoption   

n.采用，采纳，通过；收养

参考例句：

• An adoption agency had sent the boys to two different families.一个收养机构把他们送给两个不同的家庭。
• The adoption of this policy would relieve them of a tremendous burden.采取这一政策会给他们解除一个巨大的负担。

5 disapproving   

adj.不满的，反对的v.不赞成( disapprove的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Mother gave me a disapproving look. 母亲的眼神告诉我她是不赞成的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Her father threw a disapproving glance at her. 她父亲不满地瞥了她一眼。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 specify   

vt.指定，详细说明

参考例句：

• We should specify a time and a place for the meeting.我们应指定会议的时间和地点。
• Please specify what you will do.请你详述一下你将做什么。

7 censor   

n./vt.审查，审查员；删改

参考例句：

• The film has not been viewed by the censor.这部影片还未经审查人员审查。
• The play was banned by the censor.该剧本被查禁了。

8 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

9 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

10 euphemisms   

n.委婉语，委婉说法( euphemism的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• No point is in mincing words or hiding behind euphemisms. 没有必要闪烁其词或者羞羞答答。 来自辞典例句
• No point in mincing words or hiding behind euphemisms. 没必要闪烁其词或者羞羞答答。 来自辞典例句

11 glossary   

n.注释词表；术语汇编

参考例句：

• The text is supplemented by an adequate glossary.正文附有一个详细的词汇表。
• For convenience,we have also provided a glossary in an appendix.为了方便，我们在附录中也提供了术语表。

12 spouse   

n.配偶(指夫或妻)

参考例句：

• Her spouse will come to see her on Sunday.她的丈夫星期天要来看她。
• What is the best way to keep your spouse happy in the marriage?在婚姻中保持配偶幸福的最好方法是什么？

13 construed   

v.解释（陈述、行为等）( construe的过去式和过去分词 )；翻译，作句法分析

参考例句：

• He considered how the remark was to be construed. 他考虑这话该如何理解。
• They construed her silence as meaning that she agreed. 他们把她的沉默解释为表示赞同。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 discriminated   

分别，辨别，区分( discriminate的过去式和过去分词 )； 歧视，有差别地对待

参考例句：

• His great size discriminated him from his followers. 他的宽广身材使他不同于他的部下。
• Should be a person that has second liver virus discriminated against? 一个患有乙肝病毒的人是不是就应该被人歧视？