单选题
Is new technology damaging our ability to
communicate? Fingers flying, we can blog, e-mail, or enter chat rooms. But, as
we type billions of words, something is being lost. Facebook is not the same as
face to face and, as our virtual skills increase, I wonder if our ability to
communicate using speech is on the decline. Young people send
me dozens of e-mails from schools. They often attach long lists of questions, to
which they want detailed responses. Time is short, so I usually reply that they
can phone me and I'll do my best to answer. They very rarely do, partly because
their verbal and telephone skills are less developed than their ability to type
and e-mail. Yet to adapt an old business saying, a meeting is
worth five 'phone calls and a phone call is worth five e-mails. Direct
communication can quickly lead to bonding and trust. People are more likely to
reveal what they are thinking when they actually speak to another person.
{{U}}Most{{/U}} are wary of committing themselves in writing. The
great tragedy is that the phone was invented before the computer. If it had been
the other way around, Internet forums would now be buzzing with the exciting
news: "Have you heard (type, type)? There is this amazing new gadget (type). Now
you can talk directly with people. And they can hear your voice. Without all
this typing." Persistent marketing would do the rest and colleges would be
rushing to develop new courses in telephone skills. But we are
stuck with the supremacy of the typed word and it weakens our ability to look
people in the eye and talk. A good example is how much new technology has
affected public speaking. Does anyone else hate PowerPoint?
"Ant meetings, I internally groan as speakers load up their ponderous
projections. I don't mind maps and pictures, but all those words of text drive
me crazy. "nd now for my introduction ..." and up comes the word "introduction."
"There are four main points" and we see "four points." Masses
of facts and statistics follow. These should all have been given out as an
information sheet. Instead, while you are trying to read through the material,
the lecturer is wandering verbally all over it. There's a confusion of focus
that gives me a headache. As the slides flash by, the most important
relationship in public speaking is being undermined--the link between the
speaker and the audience.
单选题
According to the author, young people today don't ______.