SECTION B
Directions: For each blank in the following passage there are four words or phrases marked A, B, C and D. Fill in each blank with the word or phrase that best fits the context.
There are between 3000 and 6000 public languages in the world, and we must add approximately 6 __36___ private languages since each one of us necessarily has one. __37___ these facts, the possibilities for breakdowns in communication seem infinite in number. However, we do __38___ successfully from time to time. And we do learn to speak languages. But learning to speak languages seems to be a very __39___ process. For a long time, people thought that we learned a language only by imitation and association. __40___, a baby touches a hot pot and starts to cry. The mother says, “Hot, hot!” And the baby, when it stops crying, __41___ the mother and says, “Hot, hot!” However, Noam Chomsky, a famous expert in language, __42___ that although children do learn some __43___ by imitation and association, they also combine words to make meaningful sentences in ways that are unique, unlearned and creative.
Because young children can make sentences they have never heard before, Chomsky suggested that human infants are born with the __44___ to learn language. Chomsky meant that underneath all the differences between public and private languages, there is a universal language mechanism that makes it __45___ for us, as infants, to learn any language in the world. This __46___ explains the potential that human infants have for learning language. But it does not really explain how children __47___ use language in particular ways.
36. A. million B. trillion C. thousand D. billion
37. A. Supposing B. Given C. Considering D. Taken
38. A. speak B. tell C. learn D. communicate
39. A. various B. mysterious C. famous D. obvious
40. A. For example B. Such as C. Like this D. That is
41. A. understands B. imitates C. loves D. attaches
42. A. pointed at B. pointed to C. pointed out D. point off
43. A. words B. sentences C. paragraphs D.passages
44. A. right B. ability C. power D. force
45. A. certain B. impossible C. possible D. successful
46. A. imagination B. fiction C. invention D. theory
47. A. come to B. become to C. go to D. used to
