Reading and writing, like all technologies, are constantly changing. In ancient times, authors often dictated their books. Dictation sounded like a(n)1 series of words, so scribes wrote these down in one long continuous string, just as they occur in speech. For this reason, text was written without2 between words until the 11th century. This continuous script made books hard to read, so only a few people were 3 at reading them aloud to others. Being able to read silently to yourself was considered an amazing talent; writing was an even4 skill. In fact, in15th-century Europe, only one in 20 adult males could write.
After Gutenberg's invention of the printing press in about 1440, mass-produced books changed the way people read and wrote. The technology of printing increased the number of words available, and more types of media, such as newspapers and magazines, 5 what was written about. Authors no longer had to produce scholarly works, as was common until then, but could write, 6 inexpensive, heart-rending love stories or publish autobiographies, even if they were unknown.
In time, the power of the written word 7 the idea of authority and expertise. Laws were made into official documents, contracts were written down and nothing was8 unless it was in this form. Painting, music, architecture, dance were all important, but the9 of many cultures was the turning pages of a book. By the early 19th century, public libraries had been built in many cities.
Today, words are 10 from paper to computers, phones, laptops, etc. Some 4. 5 billion digital screens light up our lives. Letters are no longer 11 in black ink on paper, but move rapidly on a glass surface in a rainbow of colors. Screens fill our pockets, briefcases, cars, living-room walls and the sides of buildings. They sit in front of us when we work12 what we do. And of course, these newly common screens have changed how we read and write.
The first screens that overtook culture, several decades ago--the big, fat, warm tubes of television—13 the time we spent reading to such an extent that it seemed as if reading and writing were over. Educators and parents worried deeply that the TV generation would be unable to write. But the interconnected, cool, thin displays of computer screens launched a new age of writing that14 to develop. As a consequence, the amount of time people spend reading had almost tripled since 1980. By 2008, the World Wide Web contained more than a trillion pages, and that15 grows rapidly every day.
