雅思阅读第109套P2:READING THE SCREENReading Passage 2
You should spend about 20minutes on Questions 14-26, which are based on Reading Passage 2 below:
READING THE SCREEN
Arethe electronic media exacerbating illiteracy and making our children stupid? Onthe contrary, says Colin McCabe, they have the potential to make us trulyliterate.
The debate surrounding literacyis one of the most charged in education. On the one hand there is an army ofpeople convinced that traditional skills of reading and writing are declining.On the other, a host of progressives protest that literacy is much morecomplicated than a simple technical mastery of reading and writing. This secondposition is supported by most of the relevant academic work over the past 20years. These studies argue that literacy can only be understood in its socialand technical context. In Renaissance England, for example, many more peoplecould read than could write, and within reading there was a distinction betweenthose who could read print and those who could manage the more difficult taskof reading manuscript. An understanding of these earlier periods helps usunderstand today’s 'crisis in literacy’ debate.
There does seem to be evidencethat there has been an overall decline in some aspects of reading and writing -you only need to compare the tabloid newspapers of today with those of 50 yearsago to see a clear decrease in vocabulary and simplification of syntax. But thepicture is not uniform and doesn’t readily demonstrate the simple distinctionbetween literate and illiterate which had been considered adequate since themiddle of the 19th century.
While reading a certain amountof writing is as crucial as it has ever been in industrial societies, it isdoubtful whether a fully extended grasp of either is as necessary as it was 30or 40 years ago. While print retains much of its authority as a source oftopical information, television has increasingly usurped this role. The abilityto write fluent letters has been undermined by the telephone and researchsuggests that for many people the only use for writing, outside formaleducation, is the compilation of shopping lists.
The decision of some carmanufacturers to issue their instructions to mechanics as a video pack ratherthan as a handbook might be taken to spell the end of any automatic linkbetween industrialisation and literacy. On the other hand, it is also the casethat ever-increasing numbers of people make their living out of writing, whichis better rewarded than ever before. Schools are generally seen as institutionswhere the book rules - film, television and recorded sound have almost noplace; but it is not clear that this opposition is appropriate. While you maynot need to read and write to watch television, you certainly need to be ableto read and write in order to make programmes.
Those who work in the new mediaare anything but illiterate. The traditional oppositions between old and new mediaare inadequate for understanding the world which a young child now encounters.The computer has re-established a central place for the written word on thescreen, which used to be entirely devoted to the image. There is even anecdotalevidence that children are mastering reading and writing in order to get on tothe Internet. There is no reason why the new and old media cannot be integratedin schools to provide the skills to become economically productive andpolitically enfranchised.
Nevertheless, there is a crisisin literacy and it would be foolish to ignore it. To understand that literacymay be declining because it is less central to some aspects of everyday life isnot the same as acquiescing in this state of affairs. The production of schoolwork with the new technologies could be a significant stimulus to literacy. Howshould these new technologies be introduced into the schools? It isn’t enoughto call for computers, camcorders and edit suites in every classroom; unlessthey are properly integrated into the educational culture, they will standunused. Evidence suggests that this is the fate of most information technologyused in the classroom. Similarly, although media studies are now part of thenational curriculum, and more and more students are now clamouring to takethese course, teachers remain uncertain about both methods and aims in thisarea.
This is not the fault of theteachers. The entertainment and information industries must be drawn into adebate with the educational institutions to determine how best to blend thesenew technologies into the classroom.
Many people in our era aredrawn to the pessimistic view that the new media are destroying old skills anderoding critical judgement. It may be true that past generations were more literatebut - taking the pre-19th century meaning of the term - this was true of only asmall section of the population. The word literacy is a 19th-century coinage todescribe the divorce of reading and writing from a full knowledge ofliterature. The education reforms of the 19th century produced reading andwriting as skills separable from full participation in the cultural heritage.
The new media now point notonly to a futuristic cyber-economy, they also make our cultural past availableto the whole nation. Most children’s access to these treasures is initiallythrough television. It is doubtful whether our literary heritage has ever beenavailable to or sought out by more than about 5 per cent of the population; ithas certainly not been available to more than 10 per cent. But the new mediajoined to the old, through the public service tradition of Britishbroadcasting, now makes our literary tradition available to all.
SECTION 2: QUESTIONS 14-26
Questions 14-17
Choose the appropriate letters A-Dand write them in boxes 14-17 on your answer sheet.
Tip
l The questions follow the order of information in the passage.
l Read the first question and the four options A-D. One of these completes the statement so that it expresses an idea that is also given in the passage.
l Decide whether the question focuses on a detail in the passage or a main idea.
l Note the key words in the question. These will help you locate the area of the passage where you will find the answer.
l Read this part of the passage very carefully. You will find that some of the vocabulary in options A-D also occurs in the passage but only one of the options will complete the sentence correctly.
14When discussing the debate on literacy ineducation, the writer notes that
Achildren cannot read and write as well asthey used to.
Bacademic work has improved over the last20 years.
Cthere is evidence that literacy is relatedto external factors.
Dthere are opposing arguments that areequally convincing.
15
In the 4th paragraph, thewriter’s main point is that
Athe printed word is both gaining andlosing power.
Ball inventions bring disadvantages as wellas benefits.
Cthose who work in manual jobs no longerneed to read.
Dthe media offers the best careers forthose who like writing.
16According to the writer, the main problemthat schools face today is
Ahow best to teach the skills of readingand writing.
Bhow best to incorporate technology intoclassroom teaching.
Cfinding the means to purchasetechnological equipment.
Dmanaging the widely differing levels ofliteracy amongst pupils.
17At the end of the article, the writer issuggesting that
Aliterature and culture cannot be divorced.
Bthe term 'literacy’ has not been veryuseful.
C10 per cent of the population never readliterature.
Dour exposure to cultural information islikely to increase.
Questions 18-23
Do the following statementsagree with the views of the writer in Reading Passage 2?
In boxes 18-23 on youranswer sheet write
YES
if the statement agrees with the views of the writer
NO
if the statement contradicts the views of the writer
NOT GIVEN
if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this
18 _________________ It is not as easy to analyseliteracy levels as it used to be.
19 _________________ Our literacy skills need tobe as highly developed as they were in the past.
20 _________________ Illiteracy is on the increase.
21 _________________ Professional writers earnrelatively more than they used to.
22 _________________ A good literacy level is importantfor those who work in television.
23 _________________ Computers are having anegative impact on literacy in schools
Tip
Questions 18-23 test your understanding of what the writer believes; i.e. his/her views or opinions. There are three choices: Yes - the writer believes this; No - the writer believes the opposite of this; Not Given - the writer doesn't give any views on this.
The questions follow the order of information in the passage.
Start with the first question and note the key words.
Skim or scan the passage until you come to the part where the writer is discussing his/her views on the topic or idea presented in the question. If you cannot find any information on this, the answer may be 'not given'. Check this carefully.
If you do find some information, decide whether the writer's views are the same or the opposite of those given in the question.
Questions 24-26
Complete the sentences belowwith words taken from Reading Passage 2.
Write your answers in boxes 24-26on your answer sheet.
Use NO MORE THAN THREE WORDSfor each answer.
In Renaissance England, thebest readers were those able to read 24 _________________
The writer uses the example of 25 _________________ to illustrate the general fall in certain areas of literacy.
It has been shown that afterleaving school, the only things that a lot of people write are 26 _________________
Tip
The questions follow the order of information in the passage.
Check the instructions: you can use a maximum of three words for each answer and these words must be taken from the reading passage. If you use more than three words or words that are not in the passage, the answer will be marked wrong.
Read the sentences and underline the key words.
Read the words around each gap carefully. See if you can predict the answer or the kind of word(s) that you are looking for.
Scan or skim the passage until you come to the part that is relevant.
Re-read the sentence with the word you have chosen for the gap to check that it makes sense both grammatically and in terms of meaning.
