Cloze passages
Slang can be regional in that it is used only in a particular territory, but slang terms are often particular to a certain subculture, such as
music or video gaming. Nevertheless, slang expressions can spread outside their original areas to become commonly used, like "cool"
and "jive." While some words eventually lose their __18__ as slang (the word "mob", for example, began as a slang shortening of Latin
mobile vulgus), others continue to be considered as such by most speakers. When slang spreads beyond the group or subculture that
originally uses it, its original users often __19__ it with other, less-recognized terms to maintain group identity.
One use of slang is to __20__ social taboos, as mainstream language tends to shy away from evoking certain realities. For this reason,
slang vocabularies are particularly rich in certain __21__, such as violence, crime, drugs, and sex. Alternatively, slang can grow out of
mere familiarity with the things described. Among Californian wine connoisseurs (and other groups), for example, Cabernet Sauvignon
is often known as "Cab Sav," Chardonnay as "Chard" and so on; this means that naming the different wines expends less __22__ effort; it
also helps to indicate the user's familiarity with wine. 【題組】19. (A) loathe (B) descant (C) replace (D) quibble