2016年12月大學(xué)英語六級閱讀練習(xí)(14)

　　The“V”Sign

　　The palm-forward“V”sign, formed by raising andspreading the first two fingers1 ,has three differentmeanings in American culture.The most popularmeaning of the“V”sign was invented in 1941 by aBelgian, Victor De Lavalaye. Wanting a symbol forresistance to the Nazi2 occupation, he came upwith the single letter“V”, which stood not only for hisown first name3, but also for English victory, Flemish virijheid, and French victoire. Thesymbolism of the sign spread very quickly, and Winston Churchill4 used it constantly in publicappearance. Thus throughout the 1940 s and 1950 s, the gesture meant simply“victory”.Thesecond meaning came in the 1960 s. Because of its military implication, Americanantiwarprotestors used the sign sarcastically against the arms, so that it became known as the“ peacesign”. In the 1970s, the“V”sign , which had lost its military implication, was a commongreeting among freedom lovers, acid heads5, political radicals, and ultimately, young people ingeneral. So by about the middle of the 1970s, it ceased to give clue to the user’s philosophy.The third meaning is the oldest and least common. American children jokingly put “V”, whichresembles“ horns”, behind friends’heads in group snapshots. The are unknowingly reproducingsomething that southern Europeans would find highly offensive. This mischief, called“horns ofthe Devil”, is a variant of the European“ horns”gesture, which is obscene. Here the“V”signmeans“Your wife has been cheating on you ”or, when placed behind another’s head,“His wifehas been cheating on him”. In the United States, the gesture is typically given with the palmfacing the viewer. The British use both this version and an older, palm-backward version; thelatter is obscene in American culture, and corresponds to the American“ finger”6 . Churchill gotsome surprised stares in 1941 when, evidently unaware of the vulgar usage, he gave thepalm-backward“V”to British troops. In England today you could have to be a social hermit notto understand the distinction. Astonishingly, however, Margaret Thatcher7 repeatedChurchill’s error after her victory in the 1979 election.

　　閱讀自測

　?、? Fill in the blanks with proper words :

　　American children______________________ ( 開玩笑地) put“V”,which______________________ ( 類似)“ horns”,

　　behind friends’heads in group ______________________( 快照) . Theyare______________________ ( 無意中地) reproducing

　　something that southern Europeans would find highly______________________ ( 無禮的) .

　　This mischief, called“ horns of the Devil”, is a ______________________( 變體) of theEuropean

　　“ horns”gesture, which is______________________ ( 淫穢的) .

　　Ⅱ. Exp lain the fo llowing phras es in bold typ e in yo ur own words :

　　1. If you kee p yo ur fin ge rs crossed , you ______________________.

　　2. If you are all fin ge rs a nd thumbs , you ______________________ .

　　3. If you ha ve a finger in every pie , you______________________ .

　　4. If you thumb a lift, you______________________.

　　參考答案

　　1. jokingly / resembles / snapshots / unknowingly /offensive / variant / obscene

　　2. 1. hope that something will happen the way youwant2. are clumsy or awkward with your hands

　　3. are involved in everything that is happening

　　4. try to get a free ride in a motor vehicle ; hitchhike

　　參考譯文

　　手勢 “V”

　　掌 心向外, 豎起食指和中指, 并向兩邊展開, 這樣就構(gòu)成了一個V 形手勢。V 形手勢在美國文化中有三個不同的含義。V 形手勢最為普及的一個意思是在1941 年由比利時人維克托· 德· 拉維雷創(chuàng)造發(fā)明的。他伸出雙指, 作出字母V 的手勢來表示他對納粹占領(lǐng)比利時的反抗。這個V 不僅代表他的名字, 而且還象征英語victory ( 勝利) 、佛蘭芒語virijheid ( 勝利) 和法語victoire ( 勝利) 這三個單詞。這一手勢的象征意義迅速地傳播開來, 溫斯頓· 邱吉爾在公眾場合就曾多次使用。因此, 在20 世紀(jì)40 年代和50 年代, 這個手勢只是表示“ 勝利”的意思。V 形手勢的第二個意思出現(xiàn)在20 世紀(jì)60 年代。由于這個手勢含有軍事方面的意思,美國反戰(zhàn)者就諷刺性地用這個手勢來反對戰(zhàn)爭, 于是, 這個手勢開始被稱為“ 和平的標(biāo)志”。20 世紀(jì)70 年代, V 形手勢失去了軍事方面的含義, 成為熱愛自由的人、嗜用迷幻藥的人、政治激進(jìn)主義者們見面問候時常用的手勢, 并最終在廣大年輕人流傳開來。也就是說, 大約到20 世紀(jì)70 年代中期, 這個手勢就不再表示使用者的人生觀了。V 形手勢的第三個意思最為古老, 也少為人用。在集體照相的時候, 美國孩子常開玩。笑 地在朋友的腦袋后面擺出手勢V, 樣子就像動物的角一樣。他們無意中做出了一個被南歐人視為相當(dāng)無禮的動作。這種被稱作“ 魔鬼之角”的惡作劇是歐洲“ 角形”手勢的變體,這種手勢被認(rèn)為具有淫穢的意味。在南歐, 手勢V 表示“ 你的老婆對你不忠”。在別人腦袋后面做出這種手勢, 如同在說“ 他的老婆對他不忠”。

　　在美國, 人們通常將掌心向外, 面向?qū)Ψ阶龀鲞@個手勢; 而英國人有時將掌心對著別人, 有時則像前人那樣, 掌心向內(nèi)。掌心向內(nèi)的V 形手勢在美國文化里被看成是下流動作, 與美國人豎起中指一樣具有淫穢的含義。1941 年, 邱吉爾掌心朝內(nèi), 向英國軍隊(duì)擺出了V 形手勢。一些士兵吃驚地盯著他看, 顯然他對這個手勢的下流含義還全然不知。如今, 在英國, 如果你還不知道掌心向內(nèi)和向外的差別的話, 你一定是個不問世事的隱士。然而, 令人驚訝的是, 瑪格麗特· 撒切爾在贏得1979 年的選舉之后, 又重蹈邱吉爾的覆轍, 做了一個掌心向內(nèi)的V 形手勢。