Emoji (表情符号) may be a fun form of communication but it is destroying the English language, a study has shown.

Smiling faces, love hearts, thumbs up and so on--rather than words--are the preferred way of communication by teenagers, who are considered the worst offenders in grammar and punctuation.

More than a third of British adults believe emoji is the reason for the fall in proper language usage. Of the two thousand adults, aged 16 to 65 who were asked their opinions, 94 percent thought English was in a state of decline, with 80 percent thinking youngsters as the worst offenders.

The most common mistakes made by British people are spelling mistakes (21 percent), followed closely by apostrophe (撇号) placement (16 percent) and the misuse of a comma (16 percent). More than half of British adults are not confident with their command of spelling and grammar. Furthermore, around three-quarters of adults rely on emoji to communicate.

The use of emoji has affected our culture so much that the Oxford Dictionary’s “Word of the Year’ in 2015 wasn’t actually a word at all--it was the “face with tears” emoji. That shows just what a great effect emoji has.

Meanwhile, research earlier showed that using emoji in emails when delivering bad news can soften the blow. It could help workplace communication, even though it could be seen as unprofessional.

The study found that emoji clearly increased the level of understanding in a message. Emoticons like the “smiling face” or “face with tears imitate (模仿)expressions and gestures and add a new layer of meaning. Interestingly, this only worked for positive emoji. The “sad face” had little or no effect on how people responded to the meaning.

【小题1】What’s the author’s attitude to the effect of emoji?

A．Positive.

B．Concerned.

C．Surprised.

D．Indifferent

【小题2】What can we know from Paragraph 4?

A．Most British people make spelling mistakes.

B．Few British people misuse emoji.

C．Most adults are unsure about grammar.

D．Less than half of adults depend on emoji.

【小题3】What does the underlined word “That” in Paragraph 5 refer to?

A．The use of emoji.

B．The “face with tears” emoji.

C．The effect of emoji.

D．Emoji being 2015 “Word of the Year”.

【小题4】What might be the reason for a boss to put positive emoji into emails?

A．Emoji makes emails look unprofessional.

B．Emoji imitates people’s expressions and gestures.

C．Emoji helps receivers understand his messages better.

D．It’s embarrassing to deliver bad news face to face.