We've all heard the old saying，“Sticks and stones can break my bones，but words can never hurt me.” Don't you believe it？Words are powerful，and they can hurt—a lot. In fact，if you're not
careful，you can even hurt yourself，by using the wrong word in your writing.
Recently a friend sent me a copy of an e-mail she received from the customer service department of her credit card company，after she contacted them with a question about her account. She was happy with their positive response. But as I read the e-mail，one line jumped out at me：“In lieu of good customer service...”
Did they really mean they were offering her a few extra reward points instead of good customer service？I doubt it. More likely，what the customer service department meant to say was，“Because good customer service is important to us...” followed by the details of what they were doing to make sure she remained a happy customer.
So why didn't the writer say that？I can only guess that perhaps the writer liked the phrase “in lieu of”，thought it sounded more interesting than saying “because”，and so used it—without bothering to check the true meaning.
Have you ever done that？Try to impress others with a big word，only to find out you've used the word incorrectly？It's just the opposite effect，isn't it？You may impress people all right，but it's not the impression you were going for.
When you write，remember to choose your words carefully. People may still disagree with what you say，but they won't be able to dismiss you because you made careless mistakes in how you said it.
小题1:What's the writer's purpose in giving the saying?
A．To amuse the reader.
B．To persuade the reader.
C．To support a conclusion.
D．To lead to the topic.小题2:What does the phrase “in lieu of” most probably mean?
A．Because of
B．In honour of
C．Instead of
D．In favour of小题3:According to the writer，the customer service department ______.
A．didn't prefer to use familiar words to attract customers
B．didn't express what they really meant
C．didn't need to offer their customers extra reward points
D．succeeded in impressing their customers
