Three English dictionaries published recently all lay claim to possessing a “ne w” feature. The BBC English Dictionary contains background information on 1,000 people and places prominent in the news since 1988; the Oxford Advanced Learner ’s Dictionary: Encyclopedic Edition is the OALD plus encyclopedic entries; the L ongman Dictionary of English Language and Culture is the LDOCE plus cultural inf ormation.

　　The key fact is that all three dictionaries can be seen to have a distinctly “c ultural” as well as language learning content. That being said, the way in whic h they approach the cultural element is not identical, making direct comparisons between the three difficult.

　　While there is some common ground between the encyclopedic/cultural entries for the Oxford and Longman dictionaries, there is a clear difference. Oxford lays cl aim to being encyclopedic on content whereas Longman distinctly concentrates on the language and culture of the English瞫peaking world. The Oxford dictionary c an therefore stand more vigorous scrutiny for cultural bias than the Longman pub lication because the latter does not hesitate about viewing the rest of the worl d from the cultural perspectives of the English瞫peaking world. The cultural ob jectives of the BBC dictionary are in turn more distinct still. Based on an anal ysis of over 70 million words recorded from the BBC World Service and National P ublic Radio of Washington over a period of four years, their 1,000 brief encyclo pedic entries are based on people and places that have featured in the news rece ntly. The intended user they have in mind is a regular listener to the World Ser vice who will have a reasonable standard of English and a developed skill in list ening comprehension.

　　In reality, though, the BBC dictionary will be purchased by a far wider range of language learners, as will the other two dictionaries. We will be faced with a situation where many of the users of these dictionaries will at the very least h ave distinct socio瞔ultural perspectives and may have world views which are tot ally opposed and even hostile to those of the West. Advanced learners form this kind of background will not only evaluate a dictionary on how user瞗riendly it is but will also have definite views about the scope and appropriateness of the various socio瞔ultural entries.

　　1. What feature sets apart the three dictionaries discussed in the passage from traditional ones?

　　A. The combination of two dictionaries into one.

　　B. The new approach to defining words.

　　C. The inclusion of cultural content.

　　D. The increase in the number of entries.

　　2. The Longman dictionary is more likely to be criticized for cultural prejudice because ______.

　　A. its scope of cultural entries goes beyond the culture of the English瞫peaking world

　　B. it pays little attention to the cultural content of the non睧nglish瞫peaking countries

　　C. it views the world purely from the standpoint of the English瞫peaking people

　　D. it fails to distinguish language from culture in its encyclopedic entries

　　3. It is implied in the last paragraph that, in approaching socio瞔ultural content in a dictionary,social thought should be given to ___ ___.

　　A. the language levels of its users

　　B. the number of its prospective purchasers

　　C. the different tastes of its users

　　D. the various cultural backgrounds of its users

　　1. C) 根據文章第一段可知新出版的這三本字典都有一個新的特征（既不 同于以往的特征 ）那就是，根據第二段第一句 “The key fact is that all three dictionaries can be seen to have a distinctly “cultural” as well as language learning content”，除 了語言學習的內容外又增加了有關“文化方面”的內容， 因此選項C為正確答案。選項A、B 文章未涉及，選項D不符合題意。

　　2. C) 根據文章第三段第四至六行 “The Oxford dictionary can there fore stand more vigorous scrutiny for cultural bias than the Longman publication because the latter does not hesitate about viewing the rest of the world from t he cultural perspectives of the English瞫peaking world.”可知， 作者對牛津和朗 曼字典進行了比較。作者認為相對于朗曼字典，牛津字典更能經得起文化偏見方面的推敲， 這是因為朗曼字典只是從英語國家的文化觀點去審視其他國家的文化，這正好符合選項C的 內容。選項A、B、D都不符合題意。

　　3. D) 根據文章最后一段可知，這三本字典會有各種各樣的讀者來購買， 這些讀者的社會文化背景也會是各種各樣的，他們中一定有些人生活在世界觀與之相反甚至 敵視的文化背景下。這些高級學習者不僅可以根據這本字典是否合用來評價它，而且對各種 社會文化詞條的內容和準確性都有自己的看法，也就是說字典的編纂者要考慮到這些。選項 D符合以上分析的內容。

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