Which statement BEST represents the main claim of the passage?
Responses
A Words can have many different meanings, and those words change due to historical events.Words can have many different meanings, and those words change due to historical events.
B Words have fixed meanings, and when time goes on, all old words are thrown out for new words.Words have fixed meanings, and when time goes on, all old words are thrown out for new words.
C Words can have many different meanings, and the information age has created many new meanings for words.Words can have many different meanings, and the information age has created many new meanings for words.
D Words change little over time, and if they do, they have to be voted on by all speakers of the language.
Supporting Claims with Evidence
Words in the Information Age
Mauri Rapp
1Advancements in technology have led not only to changes in the way we work and play, but also to changes in the way we communicate. More than twenty years ago, a net was known only as something people used to catch fish. Birds tweeted, but people didn’t. Cookies were a delicious treat. A mouse was a type of rodent and a monitor was a type of lizard—and neither one could help you with your homework. Although a mouse is still a rodent and cookies are still delicious, these words have developed new meanings related to the information age.
2Your grandparents probably didn’t have the Internet when they were kids. Even though the Internet has been around since 1969, it took years before the Internet was widely used in homes. By the late 1990s, however, most Americans were surfing the net—and they didn’t even need an ocean! As technology developed and changed, so did the words people used to describe it. Then, everyday words such as net, mouse, and monitor developed new meanings.
3Along with giving existing words new meanings, the information age has also spurred the development of entirely new words. Take the word blog for example. Blog is the shortened version of the term Weblog, which is an online journal. If you took a time machine back to 1993 and told someone that you had been blogging—or writing on your blog—he wouldn’t understand. Today most people will know what you are talking about and they may even ask for your blog’s Web address so they can check it out for themselves. Another Internet-related term that is relatively new to the English vocabulary is Wi-Fi. This term describes a network that allows people to use the Internet without attaching a wire to their computer.
4New technology has also helped us create a host of ways to spread information. In turn, humans created new words or changed the meanings of existing words to describe these new forms of communication. Today, people can send electronic messages via e-mail,or they can now post, or write, on your Twitter, MySpace, or Facebook pages. These programs are social networking Web sites where users can connect with friends and family, share messages and photographs, and play games.
5So the next time you are browsing on your Blackberry—not the type of fruit you bake into a pie, but your handheld wireless device used to navigate the Web—think about the way that technology influences the language you’re using today. You may be surprised by the number of technological terms in your vocabulary!