II. Cloze Test
Questions 6 - 10
A prominent educator once warned that a popular new technology was becoming a(n) (6) , with a negative impact on his students’ memories. That educator was Socrates, and the new technology he disliked was writing — on wax tablets and papyrus scrolls, to be exact. The great orators of his time delivered memorized (7) without notes. Socrates saw writing as a threat to that tradition, and by extension, those mental faculties. Or so reported his student Plato in Phaedrus, anyway. True to his word, Socrates himself stubbornly (8) to write his thoughts down. It’s no great leap, therefore, to suppose Socrates would similarly (9) of the internet today. His attitude is echoed in growing concerns that the internet is changing our brains. Many of these concerns center on the so-called “Google effect,” which is believed by some researchers and a growing number of journalists to have an adverse effect on our (10) .
6. a. flaw 9. a. disapprove
b. crutch b. rely
c. stickler c. conclude
d. implant d. admit
7. a. tools 10. a. information
b. speeches b. neuroscience
c. concerns c. validity
d. attitudes d. memories
8. a. refused
b. hypothesized
c. predetermined
d. brainwashed
III. Reading Comprehension: Based on the reading in section II, indicate whether each statement is true (T) or false (F).
11. ___ Socrates was concerned about the effect of writing on his students. 12. ___ Prominent speakers at that time gave speeches using notes. 13. ___ Socrates himself used writing to record his thoughts. 14. ___ Worries about the “Google effect” are similar to Socrates’ concerns. 15. ___ An increasing number of researchers believe in the Google effect. |
