The Corner That Disappeared: o telefone e o fim da espera (C1)
The phone did not simply shorten distance; it abolished a specific human experience, and we have not yet named the loss. Before it, waiting was an activity. You stood at a corner not knowing whether the other person had left, and that not-knowing had a texture: a small rehearsal of trust, ten minutes long, repeated daily. Now the corner has been eliminated. We announce our delays in transit, correct the plan mid-journey and arrive already discussed. Something efficient has been gained and something practised has been lost, because trust that is never tested is trust that never has to be built. The device is not the villain here — it answered a real hunger, and nobody who has been lost in an unfamiliar city would seriously argue for the old arrangement. But it is worth admitting the trade honestly. We bought certainty with the currency of patience, and patience, unlike money, is not something you can decide to spend more of later.
Fonte: English for ALL (texto original).
A inflexão de tom introduzida por "The device is not the villain here" indica que o autor
- A) antecipa a objeção de que estaria fazendo uma crítica nostálgica ao aparelho e a neutraliza, preservando o diagnóstico da perda sem condenar o objeto nem propor o retorno ao passado.
- B) abandona a crítica anterior ao reconhecer que os ganhos de eficiência superam largamente as perdas descritas nos períodos iniciais.
- C) transfere a responsabilidade pela perda descrita aos usuários, que teriam feito mau uso de uma tecnologia originalmente neutra.
- D) introduz uma ressalva de cortesia destinada a atenuar o tom acusatório, sem que isso altere sua conclusão de que o aparelho empobreceu as relações.
- E) reconhece que a experiência da espera já vinha se perdendo antes do telefone, o que tornaria a crítica ao aparelho anacrônica.