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Hi SlowtoBoot,

You've spotted the exact trap this question is built on, so let's zoom in on that one line: "The culprit? Texting and internet chat rooms, of course."

The key question is: is the author stating their own belief here, or repeating someone else's? Look at the sentences wrapped around it:

- Opening line: "It is the same old tired argument trotted out once again."
- Closing line: "This kind of conservative stand has accompanied every evolution in communication."

Those two lines tell us the author thinks the whole blame-the-technology story is stale and wrong. So "The culprit? Texting..., of course" is sarcasm - the author is mockingly voicing the government's view, not endorsing it. That little "of course" is the tip-off; it's an eye-roll, not agreement.

This is the classic split between what an author reports and what an author endorses. The government blames technology; the author is making fun of that blame.

Once you see that, choice C actually lines up with the author: it says even if teens' skills did drop, technology may not be the cause - which is exactly the author's point. So the author would agree with C, making it a wrong pick for a "least likely to agree" question.

E is the real answer because it calls the change "degrading" - the very conservative position the author is ridiculing.

Quick way to feel the tone flip:

- "The culprit? Texting, of course." - dripping with sarcasm; author disagrees.
- "The culprit is clearly and truly texting." - now the author owns the claim; your reading would be right.

Same words about texting - but the surrounding attitude decides whether the author means it. Here, everything around it says they don't.

Answer: E

SlowtoBoot


C. Even if one were to assume that the cognitive skills of teenagers have deteriorated in recent times, the causes could well be elsewhere than the adoption of new technology.

Doesn't this mean that something else than technology is responsible for deterioration of cognitive skills of teenagers.

In text: "... The culprit? Texting and internet chat rooms, of course." which indicates new tech as culprit,

Doesn't hat mean the author would least agree with "C"
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Bunuel
­It is the same old tired argument trotted out once again. The U.K. government's advice on childhood language development has announced that the linguistic growth of the current generation of teenagers is being stunted, limiting them to a vocabulary of 800 words a day, when a 1000 words per day is suppose to be the minimum for adequate communication. As a result, she says, they could be making themselves unemployable. The culprit? Texting and internet chat rooms, of course. This kind of conservative stand has accompanied every evolution in communication.

With which of the following is the author of the above least likely to agree?

A. The only constant about language is that it changes.

B. The invention of the printing press was decried as perversion of religion and language itself at that time.

C. Even if one were to assume that the cognitive skills of teenagers have deteriorated in recent times, the causes could well be elsewhere than the adoption of new technology.

D. A changing vocabulary is not the equivalent of a limited ability to express oneself.

E. Sure, language evolves, but what is happening is not an evolution of language but degrading it

­
OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

The given para states what the U.K. Governments advisor on childhood language development believes that teenagers vocabulary is stunted by texting and internet chat rooms. The author himself contradicts this opinion (as seen from the first and the last sentence).

Choice A to D are in line with the authors opinion. Choice E is in line with the linguistic advisors opinion.

Hence answer Choice(E) is correct.­
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The second to last sentence ("The culprit? Texting and internet chat rooms...") and last sentence ("This kind of conservative stand...") initially seem contradicting, as if it's two different perspectives being presented. The explanation is that the author incorporates verbal irony in the second to last sentence and truly adopts the perspective of the last sentence. The connotation of "conservative stand" (as well as "old tired argument" at the beginning of the passage) demonstrates that the author's true feelings towards the UK government's advice are negative.
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