2. 外语
  3. Texting has long been bemoaned (哀叹) as the downfall of the written word, "penmanship for illiterates," as one critic called it.

Texting has long been bemoaned (哀叹) as the downfall of the written word, "penmanship for illiterates," as one critic called it.

admin2017-03-06  57
问题     Texting has long been bemoaned (哀叹) as the downfall of the written word, "penmanship for illiterates," as one critic called it. To which the proper response is LOL. Texting properly isn’t writing at all. It’s a " spoken" language that is getting richer and more complex by the year.
    First, some historical perspective. Writing was only invented 5,500 years ago, whereas language probably traces back at least 80,000 years. Thus talking came first; writing is just a craft that came along later. As such, the first writing was based on the way people talk, with short sentences. However, while talking is largely subconscious and rapid, writing is deliberate and slow. Over time, writers took advantage of this and started crafting long-winded sentences such as this one: "The whole engagement lasted above 12 hours, till the gradual retreat of the Persians was changed into a disorderly flight, of which the shameful example was given by the principal leaders and..."
    No one talks like that casually—or should. But it is natural to desire to do so for special occasions. In the old days, we didn’t much write like talking because there was no mechanism to reproduce the speed of conversation. But texting and instant messaging do—and a revolution has begun. It involves the crude mechanics of writing, but in its economy, spontaneity and even vulgarity, texting is actually a new kind of talking, with its own kind of grammar and conventions.
    Take LOL. It doesn’t actually mean "laughing out loud" in a literal sense anymore. LOL has evolved into something much subtler and sophisticated and is used even when nothing is remotely amusing. Jocelyn texts "Where have you been?" and Annabelle texts back "LOL at the library studying for two hours." LOL signals basic empathy (同感) between texters, easing tension and creating a sense of equality. Instead of having a literal meaning, it does something—conveying an attitude—just like the-ed ending conveys past tense rather than "meaning" anything. LOL, of all things, is grammar.
    Of course no one thinks about that consciously. But then most of communication operates without being noticed. Over time, the meaning of a word or an expression drifts—meat used to mean any kind of food, silly used to mean, believe it or not, blessed.
    Civilization, then, is fine—people banging away on their smartphones are fluently using a code separate from the one they use in actual writing, and there is no evidence that texting is ruining composition skills. Worldwide people speak differently from the way they write, and texting—quick, casual and only intended to be read once—is actually a way of talking with your fingers.
Examples like meat and silly are cited to show_____________.
选项 A、the difference between writing and talking
B、how differently words are used in texting
C、why people use the words the way they do
D、the gradual change of word meaning
答案D
解析 例证题。把握解答例证题的核心在于例子是为证明观点服务的。根据题干中的 meat and silly 定位到第五段第二句话：“Over time，the meaning of a word or an expression driftsmeat used to mean any kind of food， silly used to mean， believe it or not， blessed. “结合该句话的形式和内容可知该例子是证明其前面的“the meaning of a word or an expression drifts”这个观点的，即：词汇或表达方式的意思在变化。D选项中的 change 与原文中的 drift 意义相近，所以正确答案是D。
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