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 (as far as we can tell from surviving evidence) for at least 5000 years; but they have been talking for much longer, doubtless ever since there have been human beings.

When writing did develop, 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 human child who is not severely handicapped physically or mentally will learn to talk: a normal human being 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 only imperfectly.

To affirm the primacy of speech over writing is not, however, to disparage the latter. 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

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions

We sometimes think of writing as more real than speech because ..................

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• Which of the following was NOT mentioned in the passage as a source of information for The Sea Around Us?

• What does the passage mainly discuss?

• What does the author mention about the American Red Cross?

ZUNIA12

• The first songs of the Beatles were __________

• The word “partial" in the passage is closest in meaning to ..............

• According to the passage, one function of the memory unit is ...............

• It can be inferred from paragraph 4 that ..............

• The word “them” in the second paragraph refers to ________.

• What is the main idea of the passage?

•  The word “exert” in bold in paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to ................

• Which of the following is the main topic of the passage?

• The expression “traditional methods of teaching” is the first sentence refers to ______

• The word "somewhat" in the last paragraph could best be replaced by ...........

• According to the passage, which of the following statements was true in 1990?

• The purpose of the passage is to __________.

• The author mentions all the following as examples of the behavior of desert animals EXCEPT ..........

• The word ‘akin’ in paragraph 1 could be best replaced by __________.

• Which of the following statement is TRUE about the passage?

• The passage suggests that industrialization in the West led to all of the following EXCEPT .............

• The word “tolls” in paragraph 4 is closest in meaning to which of the following?