Americans no longer expect public figures, whether in speech or in writing, to command the English language with skill and gift. Nor do they aspire to such command themselves. In his latest book, Doing Our Own Thing: The Degradation of Language and Music and Why We Should, Like, Care, John McWhorter, a linguist and controversialist of mixed liberal and conservative views, sees the triumph of 1960s counter - culture as responsible for the decline of formal English. Blaming the permissive 1960s is nothing new, but this is not yet another criticism against the decline in education. Mr. McWhorter’’ s academic speciality is language history and change, and he sees the gradual disappearance of "whom", for example, to be natural and no more regrettable than the loss of the case - endings of Old English. But the cult of the authentic and the personal, "doing our own thing", has spelt the death of formal speech, writing, poetry and music. While even the modestly educated sought an elevated tone when they put pen to paper before the 1960s, even the most well regarded writing since then has sought to capture spoken English on the page. Equally, in poetry, the highly personal, performative genre is the only form that could claim real liveliness. In both oral and written English,talkings triumphing over speaking, spontaneity over craft. Illustrated with an entertaining array of examples from both high and low culture, the trend that Mr. McWhorter documents is unmistakable. But it is less clear, to take the question of his subtitle, why we should, like, care. As a linguist, he acknowledges that all varieties of human language, including non -standard ones like Black English, can be powerfully expressive--there exists no language or dialect in the world that cannot convey complex ideas. He is not arguing, as many do, that we can no longer think straight because we do not talk proper. Russians have a deep love for their own language and carry large chunks of memorized poetry in their heads, while Italian politicians tend to elaborate speech that would seem old -fashioned to most English- speakers. Mr. McWhorter acknowledges that formal language is not strictly necessary, and proposes no radical education reforms--he is really grieving over the loss of something beautiful more than useful. We now take our English "on paper plates instead of china". A shame, perhaps, but probably an inevitable one. According to the last paragraph, "paper plates" is to "china" as

A:"temporary" is to "permanent". B:"radical" is to "conservative". C:"functional" is to "artistic" D:"humble" is to "noble".

Americans no longer expect public figures, whether in speech or in writing, to command the English language with skill and gift. Nor do they aspire to such command themselves. In his latest book, Doing Our Own Thing: The Degradation of Language and Music and Why We Should, Like, Care, John McWhorter, a linguist and controversialist of mixed liberal and conservative views, sees the triumph of 1960s counter - culture as responsible for the decline of formal English. Blaming the permissive 1960s is nothing new, but this is not yet another criticism against the decline in education. Mr. McWhorter’ s academic speciality is language history and change, and he sees the gradual disappearance of "whom", for example, to be natural and no more regrettable than the loss of the case - endings of Old English. But the cult of the authentic and the personal, "doing our own thing", has spelt the death of formal speech, writing, poetry and music. While even the modestly educated sought an elevated tone when they put pen to paper before the 1960s, even the most well regarded writing since then has sought to capture spoken English on the page. Equally, in poetry, the highly personal, performative genre is the only form that could claim real liveliness. In both oral and written English,talkings triumphing over speaking, spontaneity over craft. Illustrated with an entertaining array of examples from both high and low culture, the trend that Mr. McWhorter documents is unmistakable. But it is less clear, to take the question of his subtitle, why we should, like, care. As a linguist, he acknowledges that all varieties of human language, including non -standard ones like Black English, can be powerfully expressive--there exists no language or dialect in the world that cannot convey complex ideas. He is not arguing, as many do, that we can no longer think straight because we do not talk proper. Russians have a deep love for their own language and carry large chunks of memorized poetry in their heads, while Italian politicians tend to elaborate speech that would seem old -fashioned to most English- speakers. Mr. McWhorter acknowledges that formal language is not strictly necessary, and proposes no radical education reforms--he is really grieving over the loss of something beautiful more than useful. We now take our English "on paper plates instead of china". A shame, perhaps, but probably an inevitable one. According to the last paragraph, "paper plates" is to "china" as

A:"temporary" is to "permanent". B:"radical" is to "conservative". C:"functional" is to "artistic" D:"humble" is to "noble".

Key James, Secretary of Health and Human Resources in the Virginia State government, loves to turn the tables on those who don’t think it’s possible to be middle-class, conservative, educated and still be truly black. Once, during an abortion debate, a woman in the audience angrily told James she was so middle-class she didn’t have a clue about real African American life. "If you understood what these women go through," the woman said, "you would realize that abortion is their only choice."
James then asked the woman to consider a poor black mother on welfare. She already has four children and an alcoholic husband who has all but abandoned the family. Now she discovers another child is on the way. "How would you counsel that woman " asked James.
"Have an abortion," the woman responded. "That child would have a very poor quality of life."
"I have a vested interest in your answer," James said. "The woman I described was my mother. I was the fifth of six children born into poverty. And, in case you’re interested, the quality of my life is just fine!/

A:was educated B:was conservative C:was poor D:A and B

Passage Two
Key James, Secretary of Health and Human Resources in the Virginia State government, loves to turn the tables on those who don’t think it’s possible to be middle-class, conservative, educated and still be truly black. Once, during an abortion debate, a woman in the audience angrily told James she was so middle-class she didn’t have a clue about real African American life. "If you understood what these women go through," the woman said, "you would realize that abortion is their only choice."
James then asked the woman to consider a poor black mother on welfare. She already has four children and an alcoholic husband who has all but abandoned the family. Now she discovers another child is on the way. "How would you counsel that woman" asked James.
"Have an abortion," the woman responded. "That child would have a very poor quality of life."
"I have a vested interest in your answer," James said. "The woman I described was my mother. I was the fifth of six children born into poverty. And, in case you’re interested, the quality of my life is just fine!"

A:was educated B:was conservative C:was poor D:A and B

Key James, Secretary of Health and Human Resources in the Virginia State government, loves to turn the tables on those who don’t think it’s possible to be middle-class, conservative, educated and still be truly black. Once, during an abortion debate, a woman in the audience angrily told James she was so middle-class she didn’t have a clue about real African American life. "If you understood what these women go through," the woman said, "you would realize that abortion is their only choice."
James then asked the woman to consider a poor black mother on welfare. She already has four children and an alcoholic husband who has all but abandoned the family. Now she discovers another child is on the way. "How would you counsel that woman "asked James.
"Have an abortion," the woman responded. "That child would have a very poor quality of, life."
"I have a vested interest in your answer," James said. "The woman I described was my mother. I was the fifth of six children born into poverty. And, in case you’re interested, the quality of my life is just fine!/
James’ mother______.

A:was educated B:was conservative C:was poor D:A and B

Key James, Secretary of Health and Human Resources in the Virginia State government, loves to turm the tables on those who don’t think it’s possible to be middle-class, conservative, educated and still be truly black. Once, during an abortion debate, a woman in the audience angrily told James she was so middle-class she didn’t have a clue about real African American life. "If you understood what these women go through," the woman said, "you would realize that abortion is their only choice."
James then asked the woman to consider a poor black mother on welfare. She already has four children and an alcoholic husband who has all but abandoned the family. Now she discovers another child is on the way. "How would you counsel that woman" asked James.
"Have an abortion," the woman responded. "That child would have a very poor quality of life."
"I have a vested interest in your answer," James said. "The woman I described was my mother. I was the fifth of six children born into poverty. And, in case you’re interested, the quality of my life is just fine!/
James’ mother ______.

A:was educated B:was conservative C:was poor D:A and B

Key James, Secretary of Health and Human Resources in the Virginia State government, loves to turm the tables on those who don’t think it’s possible to be middle-class, conservative, educated and still be truly black. Once, during an abortion debate, a woman in the audience angrily told James she was so middle-class she didn’t have a clue about real African American life. "If you understood what these women go through," the woman said, "you would realize that abortion is their only choice."
James then asked the woman to consider a poor black mother on welfare. She already has four children and an alcoholic husband who has all but abandoned the family. Now she discovers another child is on the way. "How would you counsel that woman" asked James.
"Have an abortion," the woman responded. "That child would have a very poor quality of life."
"I have a vested interest in your answer," James said. "The woman I described was my mother. I was the fifth of six children born into poverty. And, in case you’re interested, the quality of my life is just fine!/
James’ mother ______.

A:was educated B:was conservative C:was poor D:A and B

Key James, Secretary of Health and Human Resources in the Virginia State government, loves to turn the tables on those who don’t think it’s possible to be middle-class, conservative, educated and still be truly black. Once, during an abortion debate, a woman in the audience angrily told James she was so middle-class she didn’t have a clue about real African American life. "If you understood what these women go through," the woman said, "you would realize that abortion is their only choice."
James then asked the woman to consider a poor black mother on welfare. She already has four children and an alcoholic husband who has all but abandoned the family. Now she discovers another child is on the way. "How would you counsel that woman "asked James.
"Have an abortion," the woman responded. "That child would have a very poor quality of, life."
"I have a vested interest in your answer," James said. "The woman I described was my mother. I was the fifth of six children born into poverty. And, in case you’re interested, the quality of my life is just fine!/
James’ mother______.

A:was educated B:was conservative C:was poor D:A and B