Silence is unnatural to man. He begins life with a cry and ends it in stillness. In the【B1

】he does all he can to make a noise in the world, and there are few things of which he stands in more fear than of the【B2】of noise. Even his conversation is in great【B3】a desperate attempt to prevent a dreadful silence. If he is introduced to a fellow mortal and a number of【B4】occur in the conversation, he regards himself as a【B5】, a worthless per son, and is full of【B6】of the emptiest headed chatterbox(唠叨多言的人). He knows. that ninety-nine percent of human conversation means no more than the buzzing of a fly,【B7】he longs to join in the buzz and to prove that he is a man and not a wax-work【B8】. The object of conversation is not, for the【B9】part, to communicate ideas: it is to keep up the buzzing sound. Most buzzing,【B10】, is agreeable to the ear, and some of it is agreeable even to the【B11】. He would be a foolish man,【B12】, who waited until he had a wise【B13】to take part in the buzzing with his neighbors. Those who【B14】the weather as a conversational opening seem to be【B15】of the reason why human beings wish to talk. Very few human beings join in a conversation【B16】the hope of learning anything new. Some of them are【B17】if they are merely allowed to go on making a noise into other people's ears,【B18】they have nothing to tell them except that they have seen a new play. At the end of an evening during which they have said nothing at immense【B19】, they justly pride themselves【B20】their success as conversationalists.

【B1】

A．length

B．interval

C．period

D．meantime