The speaker, a teacher from a community college, addressed a sympathetic audience. Heads nodded in agreement when he said, "High school English teachers are not doing their jobs." He described the inadequacies of his students, all high school graduates who can uselanguage only at a grade 9 level. I was unable to determine from his answers to my questions how this grade 9 level had been established.

　　My topic is not standards nor its decline (降低). What the speaker was really saying is that he is no longer young; he has been teaching for sixteen years, and is able to think and speak like a mature adult.

　　My point is that the frequent complaint of one generation about the one immediately following it is inevitable. It is also human nature to look for the reasons for our dissatisfaction. Before English became a school subject in the late nineteenth century, it was difficult to find the target of the blame for language deficiencies (缺陷). But since then, English teachers have been under constant attack.

　　The complainers think they have hit upon an original idea. As their own command of the language improves, they notice that young people do not have this same ability. Unaware that their own ability has developed through the years, they assume the new generation of young people must be hopeless in this respect. To the eyes and ears of sensitive adults the language of the young always seems inadequate.

　　Since this concern about the decline and fall of the English language is not perceived as a generational phenomenon but rathe as something new and peculiar to today's young people, it naturally follows that today's English teachers cannot be doing their jobs.Otherwise, young people would not commit offenses against the language.

16. The speaker the author mentioned in the passage believed that _____.
[A] the language of the younger generation is usually inferior to theat of the older generation
[B] the students had a poor command of English because they didn't work hard enough
[C] he was an excellent language teacher because he had been teaching English for sixteen years
[D] English teachers should be held responsible for the students' poor command of English


17. In the author's opinion, the speaker ______.
[A] gave a correct judgement of the English level of the students
[B] had exaggerated the language problems of the students
[C] was right in saying that English teachers were not doing their jobs
[D] could think and speak intelligently


18. The author's attitude towards the speaker's remarks is ______.
[A] neutral
[B] positive
[C] critical
[D] compromising


19. It can be concluded from the passage that ______.
[A] it is justifiable to include English as a school subject
[B] the author disagrees with the speaker over the stadard of English at Grade 9 level
[C] English language teaching is by no means an easy job
[D] Language improvement needs time and effort


20. In the passage the author argues that ______.
[A] it is unfair to blame the English teachers for the language deficiencies of the students
[B] young people would not commit offences against the language if the teachers did their jobs properly
[C] to eliminate language deficiencies one must have sensitive eyes and ears
[D] to improve the standard of English requires the effort of several generations

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