HEAAADERLOGORIGHT

UPPER-INTERMEDIATE (B2-C1)

FALLING STANDARDS?

Now, look at the graph and answer the questions.

source: theconversation.com

1. What does this graph tell us about the use of these modal verbs in English?

2. What started to happen in the 1990s?

3. Why do you think this change is occurring?

4. What might happen in the future?

5. Who do you think created this graph and how?

Unit 4 / P 8
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 HEAAADERLOGORIGHT
UPPER-INTERMEDIATE (B2-C1)

FALLING STANDARDS?

2 Vocabulary

You are going to read an article about how British English has changed. First, preview some of the
sentences from the article which contain words related to the theme of upward and downward trends.
Match each word in bold with its meaning. The * symbol marks academic vocabulary.

Group 1

1. The team also discovered that the use of Mr/Mrs titles has plummeted ...
2. Although the use of modals has been falling throughout the 20th century, the rate of loss has
accelerated for must and may since the mid-1990s.
3. This is most often used in informal contexts with strong negative or positive associations ... but its
use seems to be expanding*.
4. Professor Simon Horobin of Oxford University does not believe that these represent a new decline
in standards.
5. Horobin even muses whether the use of emoji pictograms is becoming so widespread* that they
will replace written language entirely.

a. fallen suddenly and quickly to a very low level

b. increasing in number or size
c. in use over a large area or population
d. levels of quality that are considered acceptable
e. started to gain speed

Group 2

1. ... the use of Mrs would be contracting* anyway as it has been partly replaced by the term Ms...
2. ... while the use of shall has dwindled to virtually zero.
3. ... it’s hard to be sure, as patterns of language use tend to fluctuate* rather than following a straight
downward or upward trend.
4. ... while the use of exclamation marks is soaring ...
5. ... there’s a long tradition of neologisms in English, which can involve abbreviating, shortening or
blending words ...

a. become much smaller in quantity or size

b. becoming less frequent or smaller in quantity or size
c. change by going up and down
d. increasing quickly to a very high level
e. new words or expressions, or making new words or expressions

Unit 4 / P 9
FOOOOTERRIGHT Learn without forgetting! 3/9
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