Lesson 7. Will our children read books?

I. Look at the title of the text. What arguments do you think the writer might use to answer the question?

II. Read the text quickly to see if your ideas were included.

Before describing the hierarchy of the arts in the 21^st century, it is sensible to recall the experts’ forecast for the 20^th century. The headline stories were the rise of cinema and then television. And this success, it was assumed, would mean failure for older forms of entertainment and information. Since the 1950s, commentators have frequently predicted that these two new visual giants would eventually destroy theatre, radio, newspapers and books by taking over the functions of these earlier forms or eroding the time available for enjoying them.

In fact, despite the advent of multi-channel, 24-hour TV and multi-screen movie theatres, one can say that only two cultural forms have died in the past 100 years — concert hall and the letter — and the second of these was killed, not by television but by the telephone, before being somewhat restored by the inventions of the fax machine and e-mail. So cultural story of the 20^th century — an epoch of electronic invention and mechanical radicalism — has unexpectedly been that of the durability of traditional and particularly printed forms.

Looking forward then, we should be aware of pessimism’s poor record. The book, for example, seems as obvious a candidate for redundancy now as it has since the middle of the 20^th century. Where people previously assumed, they now point to computer literacy as the executioner. Yet the book, to an extraordinary degree, has learned to coexist with its visual rivals.

Most Hollywood projects derive from novels: often trashy ones, but also the classics. And not only do movies and television series descend from books, but almost routinely, they return to them as nearly every screen product has its origin in book. It all suggests that the desire of the viewer to follow the visual experience with a print experience is even more tenacious than ever.

The threat to the conventional book in the 21^st century is thought subtly different. Where the first challengers were alternatives to reading, the current ones are alternative ways of reading: CD-ROM, computer disk, the Internet, recorded books. The smart money would bet that the standard home or library reference book is going the way of D for Dodo simply because the new technology can make information more visually appealing. But, with regard to fiction, it seems a reasonable assumption that the portability of the standard book and the aesthetic affection that established readers still have for it as a product will confound pessimism in the future.

In fact, the arts most vulnerable to change, at least in Britain, are television and theatre. This is because both depend on state subsidy: a political idea, which must be regarded as highly unlikely to see out the next century. The effect of this will be the increased commercialism of both television and theatre. The casualties will be new theatre writing, the riskier classical repertoire and high-quality television journalism and drama for a general audience, although the last two of these may survive on cable subscription to the middle classes. The rise of television in the 20^th century may not, as feared, have killed the book, but the continuing rise of popular television through the 21^st century will kill high quality television programming.

The 20^th century was starting both for emergence of three new mass cultural pursuits — television, cinema and computers — and for the survival of the existing ones. This then is the big question for the 21^st century. Do we now have our full cultural hand? Might it expand further? Or will there be a showdown between the old and the new? And will our children no longer read books?

 

III. Answer these questions.

1. What factors could bring about change to “older forms of entertainment and information”? 2. What is the meaning of “advent” in this text? 3. What was the unexpected effect of the fax machine and e-mail? 4. What does the author mean when he mentions the durability of printed forms of communication? 5. How have assumptions about what might discourage people from reading changed? 6. In which way are films actually encouraging people to read? 7. How is the threat to books in the 21^st century seen as different from the 20^th century? 8. What is the writer’s view about the future of books, and why? 9. What is the big question of the 21^st century? 10. Why do pessimists think people would stop reading books, and why have books survived, according to the writer?

 

IV. How would you answer the question “Will our children read books?”

V. Discuss the two statements and decide which you agree with.

1) “The development of technology and mass media has given young people today a far greater awareness and understanding of culture than their parents.”

2) “People spend so much more time nowadays involved in passive leisure pursuits such as watching television and playing computer games that they have far less interest in cultural activities than their parents and grandparents.”

SUPPLEMENTARY READING

 

Science graduates

Business leaders called today for science graduates to be given a bursary of Ј1, 000 to help boost the number of specialist workers as the UK gears up for a new “industrial revolution”. The CBI¹ urged the Government to do more to persuade youngsters to study science subjects, tackling the including “misconceptions” about careers in technology and engineering companies. More specialist science teachers were needed, school building and labs should be improved to make the subjects more attractive and careers advice must be upgraded with Ј120 million of new funding, urged the business group.

Director general Richard Lambert said youngsters were doing better than ever in science tests at the age of 14, but “hardly any” were going on to study Triple Science at GCSE² level in England. “We need to create an environment in schools that reflects the importance of science, and the value of studying it. We also need to send an unambiguous message to young people who are good at science that science as a career can be fascinating and worthwhile, and will reward you well.” With Mr. Lambert’s aid the UK could be on the verge of a new industrial revolution because of huge new projects such as the Ј16 billion London Crossrail scheme and the prospect of new nuclear power stations. “The question is whether our fellow citizens will do more than just pour concrete,” said Mr. Lambert, adding that the Crossrail project alone will create jobs for thousands of workers with engineering skills.

The CBI said bright children should automatically be entered for Triple Science at GCSE level, currently taken by just 7% of 16-year-olds. The policy would affect 250,000 14-year-olds every year and would tackle the problem of so many young people “missing out” on a raft of potential careers, Mr. Lambert argued.

The CBI said bursaries of Ј1,000 should be given to graduates taking science, technology, engineering and maths degrees to help them pay their tuition fees, at a total cost of around Ј200 million a year.

Science graduates earned at least Ј60, 000 more over their lifetimes and were in demand, even before the new engineering projects planned in the UK, said the CBI. “If we don’t act we will miss a terrific opportunity and will find ourselves with real problems recruiting skilled workers,” said Mr. Lambert.

An estimated two million extra skilled jobs will be created by the year 2014 in the UK, but firms were already being hit by a shortage of suitably qualified staff, said the CBI. Professor Alan Smithers of the Centre for Education and Employment Research at Buckingham University said: “The CBI is pushing at an open door. The Government has introduced an entitlement from this September. The problem it has is there are not enough physics teachers.”

The problem schools have is in fitting three subjects into a two-subject slot. The separate sciences have continued to thrive in independent schools because their pupils are able to choose any combination at GCSE and do not have to do all three. It could be that state school pupils should be allowed the same freedom as their independent counterparts.

Schools minister Jim Knight said that from September all pupils achieving at least level six at key stage three will be entitled to study triple science GCSE, for example, through collaborative arrangements with other schools. “We think this is the most practical way of building capacity in schools and developing our most promising scientists.

“Increasing the number of young people choosing to study science into higher education is a top priority and it is our goal that every student with the capability should have the option of studying triple science.

“However, we don’t agree that they should be automatically opted.”

 

Notes

¹.the CBI – The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) is the premier lobbying organisation for UK business.

².GCSE - The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is the name of an academic qualification awarded in a specified subject, generally taken in a number of subjects by students aged 13-16 in secondary education in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

 

Bill Gates

William Henry “Bill” Gates III was born in Seattle, Washington, in 1955.

He is an American business executive, author, chairman and chief executive officer of the software company Microsoft Corporation. Gates was the founder of Microsoft in 1975 together with Paul Allen, his partner in computer language development. While attending Harvard in 1975, Gates together with Allen developed a version of the BASIC¹ computer programming language for the first personal computer.

In the early 1980s, Gates led Microsoft’s evolution from the developer of computer programming languages to a large computer software company. This transition began with the introduction of MS-DOS², the operating system for the new IBM³ Personal Computer in 1981. Gates also led Microsoft towards the introduction of application software such as the Microsoft Word Processor.

He is ranked consistently one of the world’s wealthiest people and the wealthiest overall as of March 2009. During his career at Microsoft, Gates held the positions of CEO⁴ and chief software architect, and remains the largest individual shareholder with more than 8 percent of the common stock. He has also authored or co-authored several books.

Bill Gates stepped down as chief executive officer of Microsoft in January, 2000. He remained as chairman and created the position of chief software architect. In June, 2006, Gates announced that he would be transitioning from full-time work at Microsoft to part-time work and full-time work at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He gradually transferred his duties to Ray Ozzie, chief software architect and Craig Mundie, chief research and strategy officer. Gates’s last full-time day at Microsoft was June 27, 2008. He remains at Microsoft as non-executive chairman.

Notes

¹BASIC — сокр. от Beginners All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code — Бейсик (язык программирования высшего уровня, используемый в программировании для простых вычислений);

²MS-DOS — сокр.от Microsoft Disk Operation System — дисковая операционная система компании «Майкрософт»;

³IBM — сокр. от International Business Machine —  компания IBM — производитель аппаратного и программного обеспечения, а также принадлежащая ей торговая марка;

⁴CEO — сокр. от Chief Executive Officer — (главный) исполнительный директор; генеральный директор (корпорации)