The speaker, a teacher from a community college, addressed a sympathetic audience. Heads n

odded, in agreement when he said, "High school English teachers are not doing their jobs." He described the inadequacies of his students, all high school graduates who can use language only at a grade 9 level. I was unable to determine from his answers to my questions how his grade 9 level had been established.

My topic is not standards nor its decline. What the speaker was really【C1】______is that he is no longer young; he has been【C2】______for sixteen years, and is able to think and speak like a mature adult.

My【C3】______is that the frequent complaint of one generation about the one immediately following【C4】______is inevitable. It is also human nature to look for the reasons【C5】______our dissatisfaction. Before English became a school subject in the late nineteenth century, it was difficult to find the target of the blame for language【C6】______. But since then, English teachers have been under constant【C7】______.

The complainers think they have hit upon an【C8】______idea. As their own command of the language【C9】______, they notice that young people do not have this same ability.【C10】______that their own ability has developed through the years, they【C11】______the new generation of young people must be hopeless in this【C12】______. To the eyes and ears of【C13】______adults the language of the young always seems【C14】______.

Since this concern about the【C15】______and fall of the English language is not【C16】______as a generational phenomenon but rather as something new and【C17】______to today's young people, it naturally【C18】______that today's English teachers cannot be doing their jobs.【C19】______, young people would not commit【C20】______against the language.

【C1】

A．saying

B．speaking

C．uttering

D．singing