With the rapid pace of working and living, more and more Chinese are facing a phenomenon: They tend to forget how to write Chinese characters. Some media have described the problem as a “crisis” for Chinese characters. So how important is Chinese writing and how can we avoid “character amnesia” in the future?
Texting and typing are replacing the elaborate strokes(笔画) that make up written Chinese. And when it comes to writing down a few words, more Chinese are realising they can’t remember exactly how lo write a given character.
Professor Meng Man, associate professor of Minzu University of China, is one of the judges of the Chinese Character Dictation Contest broadcast on CCTV. She says she learnt a lot. “I was amazed by some competitors because even I couldn’t remember how to write certain characters. The writing ability of adults in China falls short of our expectations. This TV programme is really great in drawing people’s attention to writing Chinese characters.”
This is a strange new form of illiteracy. The longer people use their cellphones and computers, the less often they write with pens. Whether typing on their computers or texting on phones, most Chinese use a system where they type out the sound of the word in Pinyin, which is commonly used, and they are given a choice of characters to use. Experts say the situation may not rise the level of “cultural crisis”, but we need to be aware of the problem.
Meng said, “Chinese characters are generally square. This is meant to teach people to be upright and respectable. Typing tends to cut off the Chinese bond with the root of traditional culture. This might be potentially dangerous.”
To settle this problem, experts suggest people change mobile phone typing from Pinyin to handwriting or five-stroke typing to help avoid forgetting how to write characters. After all, writing Chinese characters and being a decent Chinese person are what we need to pass on to future generations.
16. What does the underlined word in Paragraph 1 mean?
A.Writing. | B.Popularity. | C.Memory loss. | D.Usage. |
17. Which of the following will Professor Meng Man disagree with?
A.She thinks highly of the Chinese Character Dictation Contest. |
B.Most adults’ writing ability is satisfactory. |
C.People should pay more attention to the writing of Chinese characters. |
D.She herself could not write some characters sometimes. |
18. Which is true according to the passage?
A.Chinese characters reflect the Chinese culture in all ways. |
B.By changing mobile phone typing to handwriting, one can improve his or her writing ability. |
C.Experts hold the opinion that the situation has already caused “cultural crisis”. |
D.Chinese characters are to be forgotten in the future. |
19. What’s the purpose of this text?
A.To tell people how to write Chinese characters. |
B.To introduce the mobile phone typing system— Pinyin. |
C.To encourage people to take part in the Chinese Character Dictation Contest. |
D.To appeal to people to write Chinese characters more often. |