He could learn to say any word-- 22 one.
答案：(C) except
語意「他可以學會說任何字——除了一個字之外」，except（除了）符合後文「他不會說Catano這個字」；without（沒有）、beyond（超過）、despite（儘管）都不符合這裡「除外」的語意。
本題大考中心未公布逐題答對率，以下不談數據，只談觀念。
四個選項都能接名詞，中文又都帶著「沒有、除了、超過、儘管」的排除味道，很容易憑語感挑。這一格要看的是破折號後面那個 one 指什麼。
先把句子讀完：He could learn to say any word-- ___ one.（他任何字都學得會——……一個字。）再往下讀一句：He could not say the name of his native town, Catano.（他說不出他家鄉的名字 Catano。）所以那個 one 指的就是 Catano 這一個字，整句要說的是「任何字都會，就只有這一個不會」——這是從全體裡挖掉一個，正是 except（除了……之外）。
without（沒有）：without one 是「沒有一個」，會變成「他任何字都學得會，沒有一個字」，自相矛盾。beyond（超過、超出）：講的是範圍或程度上超出，beyond one 沒有「除了一個」的意思。despite（儘管）：表讓步，後面接的是一個被克服的阻礙，而這裡的 one 不是阻礙，是被排除在外的例外。
except（除了……之外）、except for（除了……之外，用於整體評價）、apart from（除了）、native town（家鄉）、any word（任何一個字）、despite（儘管）。
There was once a man in Puerto Rico who had a wonderful parrot. The parrot was 21, there was no other bird like him in the whole world. He could learn to say any word-- 22 one. He could not say the name of his native town, Catano.
The man 23 everything he could to teach the parrot to say "Catano," but he never 24. At first he was very gentle with the bird, but gradually he lost his 25. "You stupid bird! 26 can't you learn to say that one word? Say 'Catano' or I'll kill you!" But the parrot would not say it. Many times the man screamed, "Say 'Catano' or I'll kill you!" But the bird would not 27 the name. Finally the man gave up. He picked up the parrot and threw the bird into the chicken house.
In the chicken house, there were four old chickens, waiting to be killed 28 Sunday's dinner. "You are even more stupid than the chickens," the man said as he was leaving. The next morning, the man went out to the chicken house. When he opened the door, he was 29 by what he saw. He could not believe his eyes and ears! On the floor 30 three dead chickens. The parrot was screaming at the fourth, "Say 'Catano' or I'll kill you!"