【正文】 s, we cannot ignore the fact that people must learn to use a language. In particular, one explanation for the prevalence of vague terms which has been suggested in the philosophy literature is that vague terms might be easier to learn. Sainsbury argues that ‘we acquire the concept from the inside, working outwards from central cases … rather than from the outside, identifying boundaries and moving inwards.’ That is to say, when a foreigner is memorizing a English word ‘bird’, his or her mind is picturing a robin or some other birds with typical characteristics of birds, instead of a penguin which is close to the boundary between the category of bird and the other categories. Suppose that I enter a population of people who have agreed on the cutoff height between ‘short’ and ‘tall’. The only way I can learn about this cutoff, however, is to observe how they classify various people. Naturally, unless I am lucky enough to have the chance to observe the classification of two individuals very close to the boundary, but on opposite sides of the boundary, I will never learn the cutoff being used. Instead, I will end up learning that people below, say, 5foot5, are short, while people above, say, 6foot6, are tall and I would have no clear idea about people in the middle. In this sense, what I have learned is a vague term. That is, even if we begin with a precise term, as new agents e into the population and old ones die out, the term will bee vague.Another aspect for illustrating why vague language is adopted is generality. Generality is obviously useful. Often, lessons about a particular object can be projected to other objects in virtue of their mon elements. When a girl learns that her cat has a nictating membrane that protects its eyes, she rightly expects her neighbor39。s cat also has a nictating membrane. Generality saves labor. When the girl says that she wants a toy rather than clothes, she narrows the range of acceptable gifts without going through the trouble of specifying a particular gift. The girl also balances values: a gift should be intrinsically desired and yet also be a surprise. ‘Vague’ has a sense which is synonymous with generality. This precipitates many equivocal explanations of vagueness. For instance, many mentators say that vagueness exists because broad categories ease the task of classification. If I can describe your sweater as red, then I do not need to figure out whether it is scarlet. This freedom to use vague expressions obviously helps us to learn, teach, municate, and remember.My last suggestion is that words are vague because we don’t know the strategies of other people. That is, when I use a word, I do not know all the possible situations where you would use my information and hence I might want to ‘hedge’ my bets and be vaguer. A very concrete example of this es from contract the guideline we follow in making out contracts. Instead of attempting to specify in exact terms what a party to the contract is supposed to do, contracts often use vague terms such as ‘taking appropriate care’ or ‘ with all due speed’. If agents fear that circumstances may arise that they currently cannot imagine, then they may wish to avoid being too precise in order to avoid being trapped later. Instead, they require the other party to respond to unexpected circumstances ‘a(chǎn)ppropriately’, relying on the hope that the meaning of this word will be sufficiently clear. This factor focuses on the relationship between vagueness and unforeseen contingencies.Chapter Three Features of Law English Law English means the language for law in the ., the ., and some other countries whose official language is English. These countries have a long history to express law in English. Like medical English, mercial English, financial English, advertising English and so on, law English belongs to the category of English for special purpose. Law English can be classified into two major categories: legislative language and judicial language. The former refers to constitutions and statutes, laws and regulations promulgated by the Congress, and the international norms established by authoritative international organizations. The latter refers to academic works, language spoken by lawyers in court disputes, speeches delivered by plaintiffs, defendants, judges, Chief Justice or other staff involved in the adjudication of a case. As a linguistic division, law English has unique stylistic features, among which the most important and distinct feature is preciseness. Law English has a high demand for preciseness on the usage. Features of legal system contribute to this basic requirement. Basic requirement for preciseness What legislative language expresses are behavior norms for national citizens to abide by and to guide the work of the judiciary. Therefore, lawmakers have to resort to application of exact expressions to make clear legislative motives and specific legal provisions, so that judicatory staff and national citizens as a whole can definitely understand what obligations and rights they possess, thus knowing that what behavior is allowed, what is forbidden, and what is encouraged. For example:The death penalty may be imposed only for offences of treason, piracy or setting fire to any of Her Majesty’s warships or dockyard. It may not in any event be passed on a person under 18 years of age, nor on an expectant mother.In this regulation, three specific expressions are adopted to clarify application scope of death penalty while two phrases ‘under 18 years of age’ and ‘expectant mother’ are used to exclude some instances. Preciseness of legal language can easily find support from this example.Similar to legislative language, judiciary language also has the requirement for preciseness. As we all know, every link and every detail of judiciary work are directly connected with concerned parties’ destinies, especially in criminal cases. Therefore, judicatory language must