Questions 32 – 36 Complete the summary using the list of words, A-G, below. Write the correct letter, A-G, in boxes 32-36 on your answer sheet.
原文
So far, that suggests nothing more than a new kind of marker, such as tattoos, that identify people as members of a group. But Naomi Baron, a linguist at American University in Washington, DC, sees more worrying trends. For about 250 years, the consensus in Western societies has been that grammar, syntax and spelling matter, and that rules have to be observed. That consensus now appears to be at risk. In all electronic media, especially when typed on the small screens of mobile handsets, absolutely anything, linguistically speaking, seems to go. Apostrophes that once distinguished between ‘its’ and ‘it’s’ seem quaint and arbitrary. Entire words and sentences now compose themselves with the ever-present ‘autofill’ and spell-check features.
One response, fashionable among academics, is to welcome this trend with open arms. Language, after all, appears only to be returning to its natural and healthy state of flux. When the famous author Geoffrey Chaucer was writing in the 14th century there were no set spelling conventions, but he managed to compose interesting texts nonetheless. For all we know, today's digital and mobile world might be teeming with potential Chaucers.
Naomi Baron will have none of it. Spelling is in decline today, she thinks, not because of the rich diversity of dialects, as in Chaucer's day, but because the dominant view of those who work, rest and play using mobile technology is that language does not matter. We are entering, as she puts it, an age of 'linguistic whateverism'. One reason is that people today are writing vastly larger amounts of text than ever before, and 'the more we write online, the worse writers we become'. In the eras of quills, pens or even manual typewriters it was hard to write a lot, so people took time and care in clarifying their thoughts. Many people today are convinced that they don't have that time, so they concentrate on speed alone.
Because language is the primary vehicle for thought, this has consequences. Ms Baron says that these days her students think incoherently. And that is how they write essays. Having internalised the new whateverism, they launch in and stumble through without a thought for what they actually want to say.
选项
Afeelings
Bthought
Ctexting
DRules
Ehaste
Fquantity
Gstudying
Naomi Baron’s views
第 32 题
Naomi Baron is critical of _____ because of the errors it encourages among young people. The writer notes that in the 14th century, language lacked certain ____ but remained engaging. Baron also applauds the quality of hand-written texts of the past, and compares this with the current focus on the ____ of material that is produced. She feels that people today fail to give enough ____ to the content of their writing. As a result of their ____, she says, they produce texts that are not coherent.
正确答案：C
第 33 题
Naomi Baron is critical of ____ because of the errors it encourages among young people. The writer notes that in the 14th century, language lacked certain _____ but remained engaging. Baron also applauds the quality of hand-written texts of the past, and compares this with the current focus on the ____ of material that is produced. She feels that people today fail to give enough ____ to the content of their writing. As a result of their ____, she says, they produce texts that are not coherent.
正确答案：D
第 34 题
Naomi Baron is critical of ____ because of the errors it encourages among young people. The writer notes that in the 14th century, language lacked certain ____ but remained engaging. Baron also applauds the quality of hand-written texts of the past, and compares this with the current focus on the _____ of material that is produced. She feels that people today fail to give enough ____ to the content of their writing. As a result of their ____, she says, they produce texts that are not coherent.
正确答案：F
第 35 题
Naomi Baron is critical of ____ because of the errors it encourages among young people. The writer notes that in the 14th century, language lacked certain ____ but remained engaging. Baron also applauds the quality of hand-written texts of the past, and compares this with the current focus on the ____ of material that is produced. She feels that people today fail to give enough _____ to the content of their writing. As a result of their ____, she says, they produce texts that are not coherent.
正确答案：B
第 36 题
Naomi Baron is critical of ____ because of the errors it encourages among young people. The writer notes that in the 14th century, language lacked certain ____ but remained engaging. Baron also applauds the quality of hand-written texts of the past, and compares this with the current focus on the ____ of material that is produced. She feels that people today fail to give enough ____ to the content of their writing. As a result of their _____, she says, they produce texts that are not coherent.