题目内容：

    While “they” may seem small, this gender-neutral(性别中立的) word is clearly making its mark on culture. On Tuesday, Merriam-Webster announced “they” was the 2019 Word of the Year.

“Our Word of the Year ‘they’ reflects a surprising fact,” the dictionary publisher wrote. “Even a basic term- a personal pronoun(代词)- can rise to the top of our data.” The word secured the top spot when Merriam-Webster’s annual traffic report showed searches for the term increased by 313 percent. And while the reason for the increase was likely affected by many things, Merriam-Webster believes the power of the pronoun cannot be overstated.

“English famously lacks a gender-neutral pronoun to correspond neatly pronouns like ‘everyone’ or ‘someone’. As a consequence, ‘they’ has been used for this purpose for over 600 years. However, ‘they’ has also been used to refer to one person whose gender identity is non-binary, that is, neither male nor female,” Merriam-Webster explained.

The publisher also pointed out major events in culture that arouse interest in the word, such as Sam Smith’s switch to use the pronouns “they” and “them”, as well as the American Psychological Association’s recommendation that “they” be used when referring to someone whose gender is unknown, or who prefers “they” over “he or she”.

In September, Merriam-Webster added gender-neutral pronouns “they” and “themselves” to the dictionary. Many were thrilled by the news, and non-binary people expressed thanks. They felt “accepted” and “seen”.

Emily Brewster, a senior editor at Merriam-Webster, was also excited. “Pronouns are among the language’s most commonly used words, and they tend to be mostly ignored by dictionary users,” Brewster said in a statement to NBC. “But over the past year or so, as people have increasingly come across the non-binary use, we’ve seen searches for ‘they’ grow rapidly.”

1.What does the Merriam-Webster publisher think of the pronoun “they”?

A.It is quite powerful. B.It is almost worthless.

C.It has been overused. D.It has nothing to do with culture.

2.What do the underlined words “this purpose” refer to in paragraph 3?

A.Discouraging people from using “someone”.

B.Matching other pronouns such as “everyone”.

C.Mentioning someone whose gender is unknown.

D.Replacing personal pronouns like “he” or “she”.

3.Which of the following may Emily Brewster agree with?

A.Pronouns are the most commonly used words by senior editors.

B.Dictionary users tend to completely ignore pronouns in real life.

C.The non-binary use contributes to the popularity of the word “they”.

D.More searches for the word “they” can be seen in the past few years.