請依下文回答第 36~40 題
Few things play as central a role in our everyday lives as language. It is our most important tool in communicating
our thoughts and feelings to each other. Infants cry and laugh, and their facial expressions surely give their parents some
notion of the kinds of emotions they are experiencing, but it is 36 children are able to articulate speech that we gain
much understanding of their private thoughts.
As we grow, language comes to serve other functions as well. Most young people develop 37 that is more
meaningful to those of the same age than to older or younger individuals. Such specialized language serves to bind us
more closely with our peers while 38 excluding those who are not our peers. Language becomes a badge of sorts, a
means of identifying whether a person is within a social group.
Over time, for many of us language becomes not merely a means to an end but an end 39 itself. We come to
love words and word play. So we turn to writing poetry or short stories, or to playing word games. A tool that is 40 for
communicating our basic needs and wants has also become a source of leisurely pleasure. 【題組】37 (A) potential (B) opinion (C) jargon (D) character