雅思阅读真题（Part 3）
Part 3 · 最近考试：2026.11.8上海第二工业大学（浦东）
本篇为雅思阅读真题（Part 3）《Mobile technology and language》，共 14 题，2026.11.8上海第二工业大学（浦东）雅思考试真题回忆，页面提供完整原文、题目、答案与解析，并支持在线机考模式免费练习。本页同时提供 Markdown 版本 供 AI 助手与搜索引擎直接读取。
A
Sherry Turkle, a psychologist who studies the links between people and gadgets, believes that the mobile equipment or tools we use today are leading to ‘the emergence of a new type of person’. In the distant, landline-dominated past, she says, people thought: ‘I have a feeling so I want to make a call.’ Young people today seem to be thinking instead: ‘I want to have a feeling, so I need to make a call.’ What she means is that there is something derivative and inauthentic about a lot of mobile communication. As a species, Ms Turkle thinks, we run the risk of letting the wireless mobile clouds that surround us steal part of our nature.
B
Is that true? Certainly, tools have always played a big part in defining human nature. Homo habilis, ‘handy man’, is considered the first species in our genus, because he used primitive tools made from stone or bone. Homo erectus, ‘upright man’, got his name from his stature, but his crucial innovation was to tame fire for his use. And whether or not Homo sapiens, ‘wise man’, entirely lives up to his name, he has achieved astonishing breakthroughs in both hardware (e.g. the wheel) and software (e.g. language). If researchers in ivory towers now debate the arrival of Homo mobilis, their intentions are serious. It does seem to be the way we are going, and the biggest shift seems to involve language and, by implication, thought and feeling.
C
That major linguistic change is afoot is clear to anybody who has been around young people almost anywhere in the world. Richard Ling, for instance, has studied a teenage fad in Norway that had kids substituting the letter ‘z’ for ‘s’ in Norwegian words, yielding spellings such as ‘koz’ or ‘klemz’, both meaning ‘hug’. This substitution defined, as Ling puts it, ‘middle-class teenagers who liked popular music’ – until a young band ridiculed the trend, thus killing it off. The teens immediately took to writing their text messages and e-mails in pidgin Swedish. Among this group of Norwegians, a Swedish word such as ‘kramar’ (again, hugs) became ‘krämmar’. Both the ‘z’ endings and the pidgin Swedish showed up only in electronic media, never in spoken language.
D
So far, that suggests nothing more than a new kind of marker, such as tattoos, that identify people as members of a group. But Naomi Baron, a linguist at American University in Washington, DC, sees more worrying trends. For about 250 years, the consensus in Western societies has been that grammar, syntax and spelling matter, and that rules have to be observed. That consensus now appears to be at risk. In all electronic media, especially when typed on the small screens of mobile handsets, absolutely anything, linguistically speaking, seems to go. Apostrophes that once distinguished between ‘its’ and ‘it’s’ seem quaint and arbitrary. Entire words and sentences now compose themselves with the ever-present ‘autofill’ and spell-check features.
E
One response, fashionable among academics, is to welcome this trend with open arms. Language, after all, appears only to be returning to its natural and healthy state of flux. When the famous author Geoffrey Chaucer was writing in the 14th century there were no set spelling conventions, but he managed to compose interesting texts nonetheless. For all we know, today's digital and mobile world might be teeming with potential Chaucers.
F
Naomi Baron will have none of it. Spelling is in decline today, she thinks, not because of the rich diversity of dialects, as in Chaucer's day, but because the dominant view of those who work, rest and play using mobile technology is that language does not matter. We are entering, as she puts it, an age of 'linguistic whateverism'. One reason is that people today are writing vastly larger amounts of text than ever before, and 'the more we write online, the worse writers we become'. In the eras of quills, pens or even manual typewriters it was hard to write a lot, so people took time and care in clarifying their thoughts. Many people today are convinced that they don't have that time, so they concentrate on speed alone.
G
Because language is the primary vehicle for thought, this has consequences. Ms Baron says that these days her students think incoherently. And that is how they write essays. Having internalised the new whateverism, they launch in and stumble through without a thought for what they actually want to say.
H
This criticism dovetails strikingly with what other sociologists and psychologists are observing in the interpersonal behaviour of some people. Older people use their mobile phones to 'micro-co-ordinate' with partners during the day, in order to run their errands more efficiently and perhaps to spend more time together as a result. But many younger people, who have never known paper diaries or an unconnected world, micro-co-ordinate in order to avoid committing themselves to any fixed meeting time, location, or person at all. After all, a better opportunity might yet present itself.
I
Much of this pessimism is probably overblown. Only a few decades ago the prevailing worry was that television was creating a generation of unimaginative couch potatoes. That description is quite the opposite of what youth culture has in fact become in today's era of the internet. Every technology has created new excess and silliness. In time, each silliness has produced its own backlash and subsequent adjustment. At the simplest level, it is reasonable to assume that Homo sapiens, having invented the 'on' button, will discover the 'off' button as well.
想在线练习这套卷子？进入机考练习
答案：motivation for making a phone call.
原文定位：In the distant, landline‑dominated past, she says, people thought;‘I have a feeling so I want to make a call.’ Young people today seem to be thinking instead: ‘I want to have a feeling, so I need to make a call
答案：the stages in our evolution have been linked to tools.
原文定位：Certainly, tools have always played a big part in defining human nature. Homo habilis, ‘handy man’, is considered the first species in our genus, because he used primitive tools made from stone or bone. Homo erectus, ‘upright man’, got his name from his stature, but his crucial innovation was to tame fire for his use. And whether or not Homo sapiens, ‘wise man’, entirely lives up to his name, he has achieved astonishing breakthroughs in both hardware (e.g. the wheel) and software
同义替换：「have been linked to tools」↔「tools have always played a big part in defining human nature」
答案：It is an appropriate description of modern people.
原文定位：If researchers in ivory towers now debate the arrival of Homo mobilis, their intentions are serious. It does seem to be the way we are going, and the biggest shift seems to involve language and, by implication, thought and feeling
同义替换：「Homo mobilis」↔「Homo mobilis」，「appropriate description of modern people」↔「It does seem to be the way we are going」
答案：creates its own language.
原文定位：Richard Ling, for instance, has studied a teenage fad in Norway that had kids substituting the letter ‘z’ for ‘s’ in Norwegian words, yielding spellings such as ‘koz’ or ‘klemz’, both meaning ‘hug;The teens immediately took to writing their text messages and e‑mails in pidgin Swedish;Both the ‘z’ endings and the pidgin Swedish showed up only in electronic media, never in spoken language
同义替换：「Richard Ling」↔「Richard Ling」，「text messaging」↔「text messages」
答案：They have the same social function.
原文定位：So far, that suggests nothing more than a new kind of marker, such as tattoos, that identify people as members of a group
答案：texting
原文定位：But Naomi Baron, a linguist at American University in Washington, DC, sees more worrying trends. For about 250 years, the consensus in Western societies has been that grammar, syntax and spelling matter, and that rules have to be observed. That consensus now appears to be at risk. In all electronic media, especially when typed on the small screens of mobile handsets, absolutely anything, linguistically speaking, seems to go
同义替换：「Naomi Baron」↔「Naomi Baron」，「is critical of」↔「sees more worrying trends」，「texting」↔「typed on the small screens of mobile handsets」
答案：rules
原文定位：When the famous author Geoffrey Chaucer was writing in the 14th century there were no set spelling conventions, but he managed to compose interesting texts nonetheless
同义替换：「14th century」↔「14th century」，「lacked certain」↔「there were no set spelling conventions」，「remained engaging」↔「compose interesting texts nonetheless」，「rules」↔「conventions」
答案：quantity
原文定位：One reason is that people today are writing vastly larger amounts of text than ever before;and the more we write online;the worse writers we become;In the eras of quills;pens or even manual typewriters it was hard to write a lot;so people took time and care in clarifying their thoughts
同义替换：「compares the quality of past hand‑written texts」↔「In the eras of quills, pens or even manual typewriters」，「current focus on」↔「people today are writing vastly larger amounts of text than ever before」，「quantity」↔「amounts」
答案：thought
原文定位：In the eras of quills, pens or even manual typewriters it was hard to write a lot, so people took time and care in clarifying their thoughts. Many people today are convinced that they don't have that time, so they concentrate on speed alone
同义替换：「people today」↔「people today」，「thought」↔「thought」
答案：haste
原文定位：Many people today are convinced that they don't have that time, so they concentrate on speed alone;Ms Baron says that these days her students think incoherently. And that is how they write essays
同义替换：「produce texts that are not coherent」↔「think incoherently」，「haste」↔「concentrate on speed alone」
答案：NOT GIVEN
原文定位：Older people use their mobile phones to 'micro‑co‑ordinate' with partners during the day, in order to run their errands more efficiently and perhaps to spend more time together as a result. But many younger people, who have never known paper diaries or an unconnected world, micro‑co‑ordinate in order to avoid committing themselves to any fixed meeting time, location, or person at all
同义替换：「Older people」↔「」，「young people」↔「」，「make less use of」↔「」
答案：YES
原文定位：But many younger people, who have never known paper diaries or an unconnected world, micro‑co‑ordinate in order to avoid committing themselves to any fixed meeting time, location, or person at all
同义替换：「Young people」↔「younger people」，「avoid」↔「avoid」，「firm social arrangements」↔「committing themselves to any fixed meeting time, location, or person at all」
答案：NO
原文定位：Only a few decades ago the prevailing worry was that television was creating a generation of unimaginative couch potatoes. That description is quite the opposite of what youth culture has in fact become in today's era of the internet
同义替换：「Past concerns about the effects of television」↔「the prevailing worry was that television was creating a generation of unimaginative couch potatoes」，「have proved correct」↔「That description is quite the opposite of what youth culture has in fact become」
答案：NOT GIVEN
原文定位：Every technology has created new excess and silliness. In time, each silliness has produced its own backlash and subsequent adjustment
同义替换：「Some kinds of new technologies」↔「Every technology」，「tend to be popular for longer than others」↔「」