Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct word or phrase that best fits each of the numbered blanks:
The development of writing (1) ______ a huge difference to the world and might see it as the beginning of the (2) ______ . Pieces of pottery with marks on that are probably numbers have been discovered in China that date from around 4000 BC. Hieroglyphics and other forms of "picture writing" developed in the (3) ______ around Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq), where the ancient Sumerian civilization was based, from around 3300 BC onwards. However, the first (4) ______ alphabet was used by the Phoenicians around 1050BC. Their alphabet had 22 letters and it is estimated that it lasted for 1000 years. The first two signs were called "aleph" and "beth", which in Greek became "alpha" and "beta", which gave us the (5) ______ word "alphabet”.

The development of writing (1) ______ a huge difference to the world ..............