Because writing has become so important in our culture, we sometimes think of it as more real than speech. A little thought, however, will show why speech is primary and writing secondary to language. Human beings have been writing at least 5,000 years, but they have been talking for much longer, doubtless ever since there have been human beings. When writing developed, it was derived from and represented speech, although imperfectly. Even today, there are spoken languages that have no written form. Furthermore, we all learn to talk well before we learn to write; any child who is not severely handicapped physically or mentally will learn to talk: a normal man cannot be prevented from doing so. On the other hand, it takes a special effort to learn to write; in the past, many intelligent and useful members of society did not acquire the skill, and even today many who speak languages with writing systems never learn to read or write while some who learn the rudiments of those skills do so imperfectly.

To affirm the primacy of speech over writing is not to disparage the later. One advantage writing has over speech is that it is more permanent and makes possible the records that any civilization must have. Thus, if speaking makes us human, writing makes us civilized.

The word “doubtless” in the passage mostly means ...............

Câu hỏi liên quan

• The main idea of the passage is that in America's frontier days ..............

• According to the passage, students working for their first degree at .............. are called undergraduates.

• According to the passage, which type of memory is the shortest?

ZUNIA12

• What of the White House was not yet complete when the Adamses moved in?

• All of the following statements are mentioned EXCEPT ______.

• Which of the following would NOT be a problem for the construction plan?

• In the author’s judgment, ...............

• What is the main purpose of the passage?

• According to the passage, cell phones are especially popular with young people because ...............

• In paragraph 5, the author suggests that ..........

• Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

• In the passage, the expression “children interrupt their education to go to school” mostly implies that ..........

• What is the passage mainly about?

• The author believes that rote rotation is ........

• Which of the following is closest in meaning to the word “nocturnal”?

• The word “they” in the last paragraph refers to ............

• According to the passage, the doers of education are .............

• These changes in the Amercan home may ______________

• The reason why telecommuting has not become popular is that the employees ________.

• The word “astonished” in paragraph 4 can be best replaced by__________.