The effects of technology on language and the effects of language on culture as a whole are profound and complex. The telegraph, the telephone, and the television have all changed the way people speak to one another. The best current example of such a change is the advent of electronic mail, which has effected a widespread loosening of language usage rules. This loosening has, in turn, made relationships between people more casual than ever before.
Which one of the following propositions is best illustrated by the statements above?The passage says new communication technologies change language use, and that changed language use can then change relationships between people. The example is email: it loosened language rules, and that made relationships more casual.
The main illustrated proposition is that changes in communication media can change
interpersonal relationships.
(A) Technology can adversely affect the nature of relationships between people.
Wrong. The passage says relationships became more casual, but it does not say this effect is bad.
(B) Changes in communication media can cause interpersonal relationships to change.
Correct. The passage uses email as an example of a communication medium that changed language use and then changed relationships between people.
(C) A decrease in linguistic sophistication can lead to an increase in technological sophistication.
Wrong. The direction is reversed. The passage says technology affects language, not that language changes increase technology.
(D) A widespread loosening of overly rigid language-usage rules can improve communication.
Wrong. The passage does not say communication improved.
(E) Changes in interpersonal relationships can cause changes in the way people speak to one another.
Wrong. This reverses the passage’s direction. The passage says changes in communication and language affect relationships.
Answer: (B)