The wonders of language

I had to read the following phrase twice because the first scan gave me a different meaning from the second longer read

Growth markets in infrastructure, construction and the extractive industries are increasingly in the developing countries

It was the 'ly' at the end of increasing. It changes the sense of the sentence markedly. While neither sense contradicts the other ie both could happen (indeed are likely to), the point the writer wishes to make is different with the actual much more perceptive than the misread one.

I suppose the question is: How much more literate a society are we than a generation ago?