Foreign Service material
Last Sunday, the NYT
Week in Review
section had a story (p. 4) on the Foreign Service exam, "a half-day of
questions on geography, English usage, history, math, economics,
culture and more." Yes, English usage is in it. And
apparently will continue to be in the new streamlined exam now under
development.
In a box headed "Until Now, You Were Foreign Service Material If ..."
there are three sections illustrating what you needed to do to be
Foreign Service material: take college-level courses in a long list of
subjects; read texts from a list of more than 150 recommended
publications, seven of which are given here; and be able to answer
dozens of questions like the six provided. English usage turns up
in the first two of these: the list of courses begins with "English
composition/rhetoric"; and the list of texts includes, oh dear,
The Elements of Style. There
seems to be no escaping Strunk & White. So those who aspire
to be Foreign Service officers should have learned to avoid the
passive, the intensifier
very,
and beginning sentences with linking
however,
among other things.
zwicky at-sign csli period stanford period edu
Posted by Arnold Zwicky at December 23, 2006 12:15 PM