2016考博英语作文范文：当今读写能力比过去更重要吗？[1]

　　Is the ability to read and write more important today than in the past? Why or why not? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.
　　It is a very dangerous thing to say that basic literacy skills are more important now than they have ever been in the past. While a strong argument can be made in favor of this idea, making such an argument would imply that reading and writing were somehow less important in the past. While there is a grain of truth to the argument that literacy was not fundamental to the daily existence of most people in the pre-Industrial Revolution period, rationalizing such a lack of need for education in such a way is the first step to withholding education from certain groups, a great social crime that has led to the disempowerment of disadvantage groups all over the world throughout history. However, if we can keep in mind that education is a basic human right, then we can discuss the strengths of the proposition that literacy is more important now than it has ever been before.
　　It is true that in the past the majority of people all over the world made their livelihood from agricultural activities and that the vast majority of these activities required little or no literacy skills. In some senses, we could argue that literacy skills were less important in the agricultural age than they are now, but to do so would be to forget that literacy also reflects an active mind and that people have always needed to engage in activities of the mind. For example, even though a farmer might have labored all day in her corn field, she may enjoy reading the latest Jane Austen novel when arrived at home. We can see in this example that while literacy was not directly related to this laborer's livelihood, literacy was important to her quality of life.
　　However, we could make a good argument that literacy is more important now that it was in the past. As we all know, the world is experiencing a revolution that may turn博士入学考试