Text 4 American no longer expect public figures, whether in speech or in writing, to comm

Text4

Americannolongerexpectpublicfigures,whetherinspeechorinwriting,tocommandtheEnglishlanguagewithskillandgift.Nordotheyaspiretosuchcommandthemselves.Inhislatestbook,DoingOurOwnThing:TheDegradationofLanguageandMusicandWhyWeShould,Like,Care,JohnMcWhorter,alinguistandcontr oversialistofmixedliberalandconservativeviews,seesthetr iumphof1960scounter-cultureasresponsibleforthedeclineofformalEnglish.

Blamingthepermissive1960sisnothingnew,butthisisnotyetanothercriticismagainstthedeclineineducation.Mr.McWhorter’sacademicspecialityislanguagehistoryandchange,andheseesthegradualdisappearanceof“whom,”forexample,tobenaturalandnomoreregrettable thanthelossofthecase-endingsofOldEnglish.

Butthecultoftheauthenticandthepersonal,“doingourownthing,”hasspeltthedeathofformalspeech,writing,poetr yandmusic.Whileeventhemodestlyeducatedsoughtanelevatedtonewhentheyputpentopaperbeforethe1960s,eventhemostwellregardedwritingsincethenhassoughttocapturespokenEnglishonthepage.Equally,inpoetr y,thehighlypersonal,performativegenreistheonlyform.thatcouldclaimrealliveliness.InbothoralandwrittenEnglish,talkingistr iumphingoverspeaking,spontaneityovercraft.

Illustr atedwithanentertainingarrayofexamplesfrombothhighandlowculture,thetr endthatMr.McWhorterdocumentsisunmistakable.Butitislessclear,totakethequestionofhissubtitle,whyweshould,like,care.Asalinguist,heacknowledgesthatallvarietiesofhumanlanguage,includingnon-standardoneslikeBlackEnglish,canbepowerfullyexpressive--thereexistsnolanguageordialectintheworldthatcannotconveycomplexideas.Heisnotarguing,asmanydo,thatwecannolongerthinkstr aightbecausewedonottalkproper.

Russianshaveadeeplovefortheirownlanguageandcarrylargechunksofmemorizedpoetr yintheirheads,whileItalianpoliticianstendtoelaboratespeechthatwouldseemold-fashionedtomostEnglish-speakers.Mr.McWhorteracknowledgesthatformallanguageisnotstr ictlynecessary,andproposesnoradicaleducationreforms--heisreallygrievingoverthelossofsomethingbeautifulmorethanuseful.WenowtakeourEnglish“onpaperplatesinsteadofchina.”Ashame,perhaps,butprobablyaninevitable one.

36.AccordingtoMcWhorter,thedeclineofformalEnglish________.

[A]isinevitable inradicaleducationreforms

[B]isbutalltoonaturalinlanguagedevelopment

[C]hascausedthecontr oversyoverthecounter-culture

[D]broughtaboutchangesinpublicattitudesinthe1960s