tpo11 integrated writing

Now listen to part of a lecture on the topic you just read about.

It is often said that people are reading less literature today than they used to. What should we make of this?

Well, first, a book doesn't have to be literature to be intellectually stimulating. Science writing, history, political analysis, and so forth aren't literature, perhaps, but they're often of high quality. And these kinds of books can be just as creative and well-written as a novel or a play—they can stimulate the imagination. So, don't assume that someone who isn't reading literature isn't reading a good book. But let's say that people aren't just spending less time with literature, they're also spending less time with books in general. Does that mean that the culture is in decline? No. There's plenty of culturally valuable material that isn't written: music and movies, for example. Are people wasting their time when they listen to a brilliant song or watch a good movie? Do these non-literary activities lower cultural standards? Of course not. Culture has changed. In today's culture there are many forms of expression available other than novels and poems, and some of these creative forms speak more directly to contemporary concerns than literature does.

 

Finally, it's probably true that there's less support for literature today than in earlier generations. But don't be too quick to blame the readers. Sometimes it's the author's fault. Let's be honest: a lot of modern literature is intended to be difficult to understand. There's not much reason to suppose that earlier generations of readers would have read a lot of today's literature either.

 

 

 

The professor in the listening refutes the arguments in the reading respectively.

 

Firstly, not only literature but also other fascinating materials such as science works and political analysis etc. that also can give people a valuable chance to develop their imaginations. So, even though people may read less literature nowadays, they can still be creative and full of imagination.

 

Secondly, cultures have already changed which make people nowadays can obtain various kinds of knowledge through different forms. High quality music and inspiring movies are more and more popular than literature works. But this phenomenon should not be interpreted simply as entertainment. Compared to literature works, these new forms can convey information much more accurately and vividly. Thanks to this, people can obtain knowledge about the social more efficiently.

 

Thirdly, it is the author not the reader that should be blamed for lack of reader. Modern writers tend to write something hard to understand, while in the past, literature works were easier to read with. So, even the readers who were addicted in reading would find it is difficult for them to try to understand a modern work.

 

So, the worry and problems raised in the reading passage is not convincing.