1. A common misconception is that linguists are concerned only with the origin and development of languages, but these topics, though they constitute an important part of linguistics, do not ___ the subject.

A. frame

B. transcend

C. convey

D. exhaust

E. illuminate

2. Far from being a ___ portrait of the writer, the biographer’s life of Christina Stead is ___ many undigested and discursive excerpts from Stead’s fiction and private papers.

A. multifaceted .. enriched by

B. valuable .. enhanced by

C. succinct.. .padded with

D. disputatious.. discredited by

E. compendious .. studded with

3. Traditional Navajo concepts of government are ___; decisions are arrived at through consensus rather than ___ by a single authority.

A. aristocratic.. prescribed

B. egalitarian.. dictated

C. democratic.. censured

D. patriarchal.. legislated

解析：

1、“语言学家只关注语言的起源和演化，而这些主题尽管构成了语言学的重要组成部分，却没有构建(整个)这门学科。”这是一个普遍的误解。

解析：此题主干看转折有点困难，不过ETS仁慈地加了一个though they constitute an important part of linguistics，将它取非即可。显然an important part of linguistics与空格后的the subject构成了上下义词的同义表达。本来应该取非的由于空格前出现了not而改为取constitute的同义词，没有比frame更同义的啦。(如果不用逻辑做，肯定会有人选BDE)

2、远不是该作者紧凑简洁的描写风格，这个传记作家的《life of Christina Stead》一书充斥着许多来自于Stead的小说和私人文档中未经整理的散漫的章节。

解析：Far from表示取非。关键是找到哪里和哪里取非。

第一空填形容词，这个形容词应该和undigested and discursive有关，如果填undigested and discursive的同义词，则第2空填负评价完成Far from的逻辑取非;如果填undigested and discursive的反义词，则第2空填正评价完成Far from的逻辑取非。本题只有CE第一空选项是undigested and discursive的反义词。从2个方面看C是答案。(1)succinct有紧凑的含义，直接对应not discursive，(2)be padded with 是填充的意思，be studded with是点缀的意思，一般be studded with后面跟珠宝等美好的事物，而此处显然是undigested and discursive excerpts不好的事物。

3、关于统治的传统Navajo概念是平等主义的;通过意见一致达成决议而不是由独裁来宣布。

解析：分号后面作者强调的是rather than前面的decisions are arrived at through consensus，它代表了分号后面的作者态度，所以第一空填进去以后要使分号前面与它同义，先选出BC，再由第2空语意轻松排除C啦。