Question

Read the excerpt from "Politics and the English Language" by George Orwell.

Defenseless villages are bombarded from the air, the inhabitants driven out into the countryside, the cattle machine-gunned, the huts set on fire with incendiary bullets: this is called pacification. Millions of peasants are robbed of their farms and sent trudging along the roads with no more than they can carry: this is called transfer of population or rectification of frontiers. People are imprisoned for years without trial, or shot in the back of the neck or sent to die of scurvy in Arctic lumber camps: this is called elimination of unreliable elements. Such phraseology is needed if one wants to name things without calling up mental pictures of them.

George Orwell’s purpose is to persuade readers to use simple language in political writing. How does he achieve his purpose in this excerpt?

He rewrites some of the political titles given in difficult situations.
He rewrites a political article that uses unclear language.
He provides examples of abstract titles given to difficult political situations.
He provides examples of simple explanations for political situations.

Answer 1

The correct answer is C. In this passage, Orwell persuades readers to use simple language by providing examples of abstract titles given to difficult political situations.

For example: Orwell begins this passage with the abstract title of "pacification." What does it mean to pacify a village, though? If the term pacification were used in the news with no further explanation, viewers might think pacification were no big deal. Orwell, however, provides examples of pacification, turning this abstract title into something concrete.

He takes an abstract phrase (pacification, transfer of population, rectification of frontiers, etc.) and gives the reader specific examples of what it actually means.

Answer 2

Answer: He provides examples of abstract titles given to difficult political situations.

Explanation: This is a passage from the paragraph:

Millions of peasants are robbed of their farms and sent trudging along the roads with no more than they can carry: this is called transfer of population or rectification of frontiers.

Orwell states that, "transfer of population or rectification of frontiers" is another way of saying peasants are robbed of their farms and a forced to leave them with nothing. The phrases are abstract because they do not state the real details of what is happening. Also, people do not speak like that in their day to day lives.