How men first learned to invent words is unknown; 【C1】______, the origin of language is a mystery. All we really know is that men, unlike animals, somehow invented certain 【C2】______ to express thoughts and feelings, actions and things,【C3】______they could communicate with each other; and that later they agreed 【C4】______certain signs, called letters, which could be 【C5】______ to represent those sounds, and which could be【C6】______. Those sounds, whether spoken,【C7】______written in letters, we call words. The power of words, then, lies in their 【C8】______—the things they bring up before our minds. Words become 【C9】______ with meaning for us by experience; 【C10】______the longer we live, the more certain words【C11】______ to us the happy and sad events of our past; and the more we 【C12】______ , the more the number of words that mean something to us 【C13】______ . Great writers are those who not only have great thoughts but also express these thoughts in words which appeal 【C14】______to our minds and emotions. This 【C15】______and telling use of words is what we call 【C16】______ style. Above all, the real poet is a master of【C17】______. He can convey his meaning in words which sing like music, and which【C18】______their position and association can【C19】______men to tears. We should, therefore, learn to choose our words carefully and use them accurately, or they will【C20】______our speech or writing silly and vulgar.
单选题
【C1】
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】解析：考查逻辑关系。mystery与unknown同义，后一句话只是前一句的另一种表述，故应选B．in other words“换句话说”。in addition“并且、而且”，表示递进关系；in a word，in summary表示“总之”，说明概括和总结关系。不符合题意，故排除。
单选题
【C2】
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】解析：考查名词辨析。根据句意及常识，人会发出某种特定的声音来表达相应的思想感情，因此应选表示“声音”的A．sounds。此外在第5个划线部分的句子中有to represent those sounds，也可推出此处用sounds。gestures表示“手势，姿态”；signs表示“标记，符号，记号”；movements表示“运动，移动”，均不符合题意。
【答案解析】解析：考查动词搭配。．根据句意，我们阅读和学习的内容越多，对我们有意义的词汇的量也越大。C．read and learn表示“阅读和学习”，符合语境。read and think表示“阅读和思考”；read and recall表示“阅读和回忆”；read and recite表示“阅读和背诵”，结合后半句(增加词汇量)来看，都不如read and learn好。故排除。
【答案解析】解析：考查形容词辨析。填入的内容与其后的telling“有力的”并列，选项中只有charming“富有魅力的”能恰当地与之匹配，故A．charming正确。academic表示“学术的”；conventional表示“常规的，习俗的”；common表示“共同的，普通的”。尽管这三个词都可以修饰use of words，但语义上不能与telling(有说服力的，有力的)形成并列关系。