Over the past century, all kinds of unfairness and discrimination have been condemned or made illegal. But one insidious form continues to thrive: alphabetism. ①This, for those as yet unaware of such a disadvantage, refers to discrimination against those whose surnames begin with a letter in the lower half of the alphabet.
②It has long been known that a taxi firm called AAAA cars has a big advantage over Zodiac cars when customers thumb through their phone directories. Less well known is the advantage that Adam Abbott has in life over Zo Zysman. English names are fairly evenly spread between the halves of the alphabet. Yet a suspiciously large number of top people have surnames beginning with letters between A and K.
Thus the American president and vice-president have surnames starting with B and C respectively; and 26 of George Bush s predecessors had surnames in the first half of the alphabet against just 16 in the second half. Even more striking, six of the seven heads of government of the G7 rich countries are alphabetically advantaged . The world s three top central bankers are all close to the top of the alphabet, even if one of them really uses Japanese characters. As are the world s five richest men .
Can this merely be coincidence? ③One theory, dreamt up in all the spare time enjoyed by the alphabetically disadvantaged, is that the rot sets in early. At the start of the first year in infant school, teachers seat pupils alphabetically from the front, to make it easier to remember their names. So short-sighted Zysman junior gets stuck in the back row, and is rarely asked the improving questions posed by those insensitive teachers. At the time the alphabetically disadvantaged may think they have had a lucky escape. Yet the result may be worse qualifications, because they get less individual attention, as well as less confidence in speaking publicly.
The humiliation continues. At university graduation ceremonies, the ABCs proudly get their awards first; by the time they reach the Zysmans most people are literally having a ZZZ. ④Shortlists for job interviews, election ballot papers, lists of conference speakers and attendees: all tend to be drawn up alphabetically, and their recipients lose interest as they plough through them.
1. What does the author intend to illustrate with AAAA cars and Zodiac cars?
[A] A kind of overlooked inequality. [B] A type of conspicuous bias.
[C] A type of personal prejudice. [D] A kind of brand discrimination .
上一篇: 考研英语阅读理解精读100篇UNIT14
下一篇: 考研冲刺真题文章解析(13)
国内英语资讯:Epidemic fight boosts national pride among young Chinese: survey
体坛英语资讯:Chinese shuttlers miss title for 1st time since 1996 at All England Open
浅析流行文化
中学生为何不读名著?
国际英语资讯:Trudeau announces funding for virtual health care, antibody research against COVID-19
国内英语资讯:Xi Focus: Xi extends greetings to young Chinese ahead of Youth Day
石林揽胜
国内英语资讯:Nominal income of Chinas impoverished rural residents rises
国际英语资讯:China donates medical supplies to Fiji to help fight COVID-19
国内英语资讯:Chinese mainland reports no new domestically transmitted COVID-19 cases Sunday
打开心窗
国际英语资讯:Italy enters new phase after lockdown, as coronavirus claims over 29,000 lives
国内英语资讯:Commentary: Bannon, a bane to global pandemic fight
从“哈日族”现象谈流行文化
中学生要不要读名著
中学生要不要读名著
国际英语资讯:Feature: New Zealand reports no new COVID-19 case as country seeks recovery
中学生该不该看武侠小说?
“一次疫情,两种战斗”,留英女孩走上伦敦街头,向歧视说不!
国内英语资讯:Lawsuits demanding Chinas compensation for coronavirus damages totally absurd, experts say
窗
中学生该不该看武侠小说
我故乡的春啊
国内英语资讯:Chinese mainland reports no new domestically transmitted COVID-19 cases
国内英语资讯:False U.S. accusations against China expose its own human rights problems: Peoples Daily c
只有一个地球
流行文化之我见
国内英语资讯:China sees sharp increase of registered import, export enterprises in March
天上的星星
奶奶是星星