被动语态的百年之战

最新在喜马拉雅上学英语，有个新概念英语的内容吸引了我，试听了几节，比较适合我这样英语初级的人，刚刚听了一节，说的是被动语态的，觉得挺有收获的，于是总结一下内容：

很多学者反对在英语文本中使用被动语态，例如下面的这几位：

1. William Strunk《英文写作指南》～The Elements of Style：提出减少被动态的使用。

2. Henry Watson Fowler：A Dictionary of Modern English Usage《现代英语用法词典》：“…Passive voice sometimes leads to bad grammar, false idiom, or clumsiness.”

3. George Orwell：《政治与英语语言》Politics and the English Language:  "Never use the passive where you can use the active.”

4. 《英国自然杂志》Nature：公开反对被动语态的使用，鼓励撰稿人多用主动语态。

以上这些都是公开反对使用被动语态的，意思是学英语，主动语态才是正统。

与其对应的是，支持者的声音，有下面'这几位：

5. Geoffrey Pullum："The passive is not an undesirable feature limited to bad writing, it's a useful construction often needed for clear expression, and every good writer uses it.”

6. 美国《独立宣言》United States Declaration of Independence：

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

传世名句中的被动语态：

那么对于我们这些英语学习者来说，如何用对被动语态呢？

首先我们要了解我们为什么要用被动语态。

被动语态有以下几个用处：

1.  产生距离感: Distancing

功能：凸显观点客观性，多用于科学类报道，新闻报道等。

1) I believe that…—> It is believed that….

2) Six shops were burned to the ground last night.  昨夜，六家商铺烧为平地。

3) “I am honored to win this prize.”

PK  “I am honored to be awarded with this prize.”（营造谦逊的效果）

2. 用来控制信息：Information-Control

1)  被动语态用以隐藏信息                                                       

Mistakes have been made in the experiment. 实验中出了些错误。

场景一：当实验出了错，2名助理反复检查的各自负责的部分，确定2人都没有错误，此时，组长说：Mistakes have been made in the experiment. 潜台词是啥？

场景二: 当实验出了错，组长反复检查了自己负责的部分，确定没有错误，此时，组长说，Mistakes have been made in the experiment. 潜台词又是啥？

2)被动语态用以凸显信息

Don't you see? The diamond was stolen by the guard himself!

还不明白吗？偷走钻石的人就是警卫他自己！

3. 用来侧重视角: Highlight of POV (Point of View)

1) Pumas are large, cat-like animals which are found in America.

2) A wild puma had been spotted forty-five miles south of London.

3) Paw prints were seen in a number of places and puma fur was found clinging to bushes.

4. 流畅叙述：Smoothing Narration

1) A car hit a little girl who was sent to the nearest hospital as soon as possible.

2) A car hit a little girl whom people sent to the nearest hospital as soon as possible. 强迫读者切换了视角，导致阅读不顺畅。

3) When reports came into London Zoo that a wild puma had been spotted forty-five miles south of London, they were not taken seriously.

Zoo receivedreports that a wild puma had been spotted forty-five miles south of London, it did not take them seriously.

Practice makes perfect. 主要的内容就是这些，让我们开始用被动语态练习吧。