Question

Not long ago, people thought babies were notable to learn things until they were five or six months old．Yet doctors in the United States say babies begin learning on their first day of life．

Scientists note that babies are strongly influenced by their environment．They say a baby will smile if her mother does something the baby likes．A baby learns to get the best care possible by smiling to please her mother or other caregiver．This is how babies learn to connect and communicate with other human beings．

One study shows that babies can learn before they are born．The researchers placed a tape recorder on the stomach of a pregnant woman．Then, they played a recording of a short story．On the day the baby was born, the researchers attempted to find if he knew the sounds of the story repeated while in his mother．They did this by placing a device in the mouth of the newborn baby．

The baby would hear the story if he moved his mouth one way．If the baby moved his mouth the other way, he would hear a different story．The researchers say the baby clearly liked the story he heard before he was born．They say the baby would move his mouth so he could hear the story again and again． 

Another study shows how mothers can strongly influence social development and language skills in their children．

Researchers studied the children from the age of one month to three years．The researchers attempted to measure the sensitivity of the mothers．The women were considered sensitive if they supported their children’s activities and did not interfere unnecessarily．They tested the children for thinking and language development when they were three years old．Also, the researchers observed the women for signs of depression．

The children of depressed women did not do as well in tests as the children of women who did not suffer from depression．The children of depressed women did poorly in tests of language skills and understanding what they hear．

These children also were less cooperative and had more problems dealing with other people．The researchers noted that the sensitivity of the mothers was important to the intelligence development of their children．Children did better when their mothers were caring, even when they suffered from depression．

1.What does the experiment in which newborn babies heard the stories prove?

（no more than 5 words）

2.In the passage, what factors are mentioned that influence intelligence development in babies?

（no more than 8 words）

3.Which group of children did the worst in tests of language skills?

（no more than 11 words）

4.What is the main idea of the passage?

（no more than 8 words）

 

Answer 1

【答案】

 

1.Babies can learn before born．

2.The environment, mother’s sensitivity and education before birth．

3.The children of depressed mothers who cared little for their children．

4.Scientific findings about how intelligence develops in babies．

【解析】

試題分析：本文主要講述了嬰幼兒的智力發(fā)育情況，通過兩個實(shí)驗(yàn)表明：嬰兒在生命的第一天就可以開始學(xué)習(xí)，母親的情感能強(qiáng)烈地影響孩子的社會發(fā)展和語言技巧。影響嬰幼兒智力發(fā)育的因素有：the environment，education before birth，mother’s sensitivity三個方面。

1.第三段開頭提到One study shows that babies can learn before they are born。然后開始描述講實(shí)驗(yàn)的過程一直到第四段結(jié)束。放一個設(shè)備在剛出生第一天的嬰兒嘴邊，嘴朝向一個方向是播放在媽媽肚子時聽過的故事，朝向另一面時放不同的故事。結(jié)果嬰兒會動嘴以便一遍又一遍地聽聽過的故事。由此判斷：新生兒聽故事的實(shí)驗(yàn)就證明了嬰兒在出生之前就會學(xué)習(xí)。

2. 通讀全文可以看到影響嬰兒智力發(fā)育的三個因素依次提到并詳細(xì)描述實(shí)驗(yàn)的經(jīng)過。

1. The environment；2. education before birth；3. mother’s sensitivity

3.從文章的最后兩段可以看出，如果母親意志消沉，對自己的孩子關(guān)心甚少，那么孩子在智力和語言方面的發(fā)育就會比其他孩子差。所以：The children of depressed mothers who cared little for their children did the worst in tests of language skills．

4.文章第一段提到：人們認(rèn)為嬰兒直到五到六個月時才能學(xué)東西。但是美國的醫(yī)生們說嬰兒在它生命的第一天就開始學(xué)習(xí)了。然后通過實(shí)驗(yàn)研究來證明關(guān)于嬰兒智力發(fā)育的情況。

考點(diǎn)：任務(wù)型閱讀。