Every day we experience one of the wonders of the world around us, without even realizing it. It is not the amazing complexity of television, nor the impressive technology of automated transport. They are indeed (1) w________ which we often take for (2) g________. No. The universal wonder we share and experience is our (3) a________ to make noises with our mouths, and so (4) t________ ideas and thoughts to each other’s minds. In other words, that wonder is our ability to fashion (5) l________. This ability comes so naturally we are apt to forget what a miracle (6) i________ is.

Obviously, the ability to (7) t________ is something that marks humans off from (8) a________. Of course, some animals have powers just as amazing. Bats home in on flying insects that are their food by (9) m________ of a sophisticated sound system. Birds can (10) n________ thousands of miles by observing positions of the stars in the (11) s________ in relation to the time of day and year. In Nature’s talent show, humans are a species of animals that have (12) d________ their own special act. If we reduce it to basic terms, it is a knack for communicating (13) i________ to others, by varying (14) s________ we make as we breathe out.

Not that we do not have other powers of communication. Our facial (15) e________ convey our emotions, such as anger, or joy, or disappointment. The way we hold our heads can (16) i________ to others (17) w________ we are happy or downcast. This is so-called “(18) b________ language”, and to some (19) e________ we are no different from other animals in this (20) r________. Bristling fur is an unmistakable warning of aggression among many (21) c________. Similarly, the bowed head or drooping tail shows a readiness to (22) t________ second place in any animal gathering.

Such a means of (23) c________ is a basic mechanism that animals, including human beings, (24) i________ acquire and display. Is the ability to speak just another sort of instinct? If so, how did human beings (25) a________ this amazing skill? Biologists can readily indicate that particular area of our (26) b________ where speech mechanisms (27) f________, but this doesn’t tell us how that (28) p________of our bodies originated in our biological history. It is (29) t________ to think that for our human ancestors acquiring the power of speech was all a (30) m________ of competition.