Newborns begin to develop language skills long before they begin speaking. And, compared to adults, they develop these skills more quickly. People have a hard time learning new languages as they grow older, but babies have the ability to learn any language easily.

For a long time, scientists have tried to explain how such young children can learn the complicated grammatical rules and sounds of a language. Now, researchers are getting a better idea of what’s happening in the brains of the tiniest language learners. This new information might help kids with learning problems as well as adults who want to learn new languages. It might even help scientists who are trying to design computers that can communicate like people do.

Most babies go “ma ma” by 6 months of age, and most children speak in full sentences by age 3. For many years, scientists have wondered how the brains of young children figure out how to communicate using language. With help from new technologies, scientists are now finding that babies begin life with the ability to learn any language. They get into contact with other people, listen to what they say and watch their movements very closely. That is why they quickly master the languages they hear most often.

Studies show that, up to about 6 months of age, babies can recognize all the sounds that make up all the languages in the world. Starting at around 6 months old a baby’s brain focuses on the most common sounds it hears. Then, children begin responding only to the sounds of the language they hear the most.

In a similar way older babies start recognizing the patterns that make up the rules of their native language. For example, English children who are about 18 months old start to figure out that words ending in “-ing” or “-ed” are usually verbs, and that verbs are action words.

1.The new research in the second paragraph can be helpful in _____.

A. finding successful language learners

B. teaching kids with learning problems

C. designing human-shaped computers

D. improving babies’ language ability

2. The researchers found out that babies learn a language mainly by _____.

A. repeating the words of other people

B. remembering the full sentences they hear

C. hearing and closely watching others speak

D. figuring out the meaning of different sounds

3.The purpose of the text is to _____.

A. discuss B. educate

C. inform D. Entertain

練習(xí)冊(cè)系列答案
相關(guān)習(xí)題

科目：高中英語 來源：2016屆浙江臨海臺(tái)州中學(xué)高三上第三次統(tǒng)練英語試卷（解析版） 題型：單項(xiàng)填空

---I’m planning to go to Kingdom of Cambodia this summer vacation. I think the trip will be exciting.

---___________, as it’s the rainy season then.

A. Yes, it will B. Of course not

C. You can say so D. It’s hard to say

查看答案和解析>>

科目：高中英語 來源：2015-2016學(xué)年浙江臺(tái)州中學(xué)高二上期中英語試卷（解析版） 題型：閱讀理解

University Room Regulations

Approved and Prohibited Items

The following items are approved for use in residential (住宿的) rooms: electric blankets, hair dryers, personal computers, radios, televisions and DVD players. Items that are not allowed in student rooms include: candles, ceiling fans, fireworks, waterbeds, sun lamps and wireless routers. Please note that any prohibited items will be taken away by the Office of Residence Life.

Access to Residential Rooms

Students are provided with a combination (組合密碼) for their room door locks upon check-in. Do not share your room door lock combination with anyone. The Office of Residence Life may change the door lock combination at any time at the expense of the resident if it is found that the student has shared the combination with others. The fee is $25 to change a room combination.

Cooking Policy

Students living in buildings that have kitchens are only permitted to cook in the kitchen. Students must clean up after cooking. This is not the responsibility of housekeeping staff. Kitchens that are not kept clean may be closed for use. With the exception of using a small microwave oven (微波爐) to heat food, students are not permitted to cook in their rooms.

Pet Policy

No pets except fish are permitted in student rooms. Students who are found with pets, whether visiting or owned by the student, are subject to an initial fine of $100 and a continuing fine of $50 a day per pet. Students receive written notice when the fine goes into effect. If, one week from the date of written notice, the pet is not removed, the student is referred to the Student Court.

Quiet Hours

Residential buildings must maintain an atmosphere that supports the academic mission of the University. Minimum quiet hours in all campus residences are 11:00 pm to 8:00 am Sunday through Thursday. Quiet hours on Friday and Saturday nights are 1:00 am to 8:00 am. Students who violate quiet hours are subject to a fine of $25.

1.Which of the following items are allowed in student rooms?

A. Ceiling fans and waterbeds.

B. Wireless routers and radios.

C. Hair dryers and candles.

D. TVs and electric blankets.

2.What do we know about the cooking policy?

A. A microwave oven can be used.

B. Cooking in student rooms is permitted.

C. A housekeeper is to clean up the kitchen.

D. Students are to close kitchen doors after cooking.

3.When can students enjoy a party in residences?

A. 7:00 am, Sunday. B. 7:30 am, Thursday.

C. 11:30 pm, Monday. D. 00:30 am, Saturday.

查看答案和解析>>

科目：高中英語 來源：2015-2016學(xué)年江西吉安第一中學(xué)高二上段考1英語試卷（解析版） 題型：語法填空

語法填空

閱讀下面材料，在空白處填入適當(dāng)?shù)膬?nèi)容（不多于3個(gè)單詞）或括號(hào)內(nèi)單詞的正確形式。

Rachel Simmons, 22, from Boston, rescued her father by miraculously 1. (lift) an SUV from his leg.

Adam Simmons was repairing his daughter’s brakes when the jacks (千斤頂) keeping the car overhead 2. (fall) down and one of the axles landed on his leg. Mr. Simmons’ daughter Rachel heard her father’s yelps of pain from inside the house and ran to his rescue.

Rachel saw that the car 3. weighs around 2,600 kg was crushing her father’s leg and in order to free 4. , she lifted the vehicle with her bare hands.

Rachel said she didn’t know 5. she managed to lift the large vehicle from her father’s leg, “I ran out 6. the house and I saw him under my car. So I just went and lifted 7. wheel arch to set him free,” she said.

Doctors arrived at the scene and Adam 8. (rush) to hospital where X-rays were taken. He made a lucky escape and came away with just a few cuts and bruises.

Adam says his daughter is his “here” and that it was still 9. (clear) how Rachel managed to muster the strength to lift a Jeep.

She added that she was glad her dad wasn’t 10. (bad) harmed and that she was happy she only had a sore back.

查看答案和解析>>

科目：高中英語 來源：2015-2016學(xué)年湖北武漢第二中學(xué)高二上學(xué)期期中英語試卷（解析版） 題型：閱讀理解

I always experienced guilt when I passed by without giving a coin or two to a beggar.

My conscience was pricked again on a tour of Venice in 2010. I had taken refuge from the crowds in a quiet canal-side café. Outside the café was an old woman kneeling on the ancient cobbled stones, begging. Steady streams of tourists were walking past her. A lone young back-packer stood away from the crowds drinking something, but I noticed he was also observing the woman.

A tourist group glanced at the woman and walked on. Another group of tourists arrived and, again, walked past her. The backpacker watched. Then, as I prepared to leave, I stopped at the sight of the backpacker stepping forward and placing some money in the woman’s cup. He did this rather ostentatiously（炫耀地）, just before the arrival of another tourist group. I watched as the leader of the group stopped and put some money in the cup. Having been shown the way, other tourists followed suit and added more coins to the woman’s cup.

The young backpacker repeated this process in front of the next tour party going past. Once again, the subtle peer （同伴）pressure worked on the tourists, who all added coins to the cup. His work done, the young man walked over to the old beggar woman, patted her shoulder and said, “I hope that helps a bit.”

I don’t know if the woman understood his English or realized what had just happened, but I did. I placed some money in the woman’s cup and continued my travels, light-hearted after witnessing such an act of caring.

1.The backpacker placed some money in the woman’s cup rather ostentatiously because______.

A. he wanted to stop the tourists by doing this

B. he wanted people to know that he was rich and kind

C. he wanted to help the woman by himself

D. he wanted the tourist group to follow him

2.The author went to a quiet canal-side cafe to_______ .

A. avoid meeting the beggar

B. get away from the crowds

C. take a rest

D. watch the woman beggar

3.We can infer from the passage that ________ .

A. tourists can be cheated by beggars

B. people usually have pity on an old beggar

C. tourists are willing to help beggars

D. people can do kind acts due to peer pressure

4.Before the backpacker dropped some money in the woman’s cup, the tourists ______ .

A. all showed pity for the woman

B. didn’t notice the woman

C. walked by without giving any money

D. gave a little money to the woman

查看答案和解析>>

科目：高中英語 來源：2015-2016學(xué)年山西康杰中學(xué)高一上學(xué)期期中英語試卷（解析版） 題型：閱讀理解

It was lucky to have a teacher at home. Mom was a teacher most of her life. When she wasn’t in the classroom, she was educating her children or grandchildren: correcting our grammar; starting us on collections of butterflies, flowers or rocks; or inspiring a discussion on her most recent “Book of the Month Club” topic. Mom made learning fun.

It was sad for my three brothers and me to see her ailing in her later years. At eighty-five, she suffered a stroke(中風(fēng)) and she went steadily downhill after that.

Two days before she died, my brothers and I met at her nursing home and took her for a short ride in a wheelchair. While we waited for the staff to lift her back into bed, Mom fell asleep. Not wanting to wake her, we moved to the far end of the room and spoke softly.

After several minutes our conversation was interrupted by a muffled sound coming from across the room. We stopped talking and looked at Mom. Her eyes were closed, but she was clearly trying to communicate with us. We went to her side.

“Whirr,” she said weakly.

“Where?” I asked. “Mom, is there something you want?” “Whirr,” she repeated a bit stronger. My brothers and I looked at each other and shook our heads sadly.

Mom opened her eyes, sighed, and with all the energy she could muster said, “Not was, say were!”

It suddenly occurred to us that Mom was correcting brother Jim’s last sentence. “If it was up to me…”

Jim leaned down and kissed her cheek. “Thanks, Mom,” he whispered. We smiled at each other and once again shook our heads…this time in awe of a remarkable teacher.

1.When Mom said, “Whirr”, what did she really want to do?

A. She wanted to tell her sons her will.

B. She wanted to have something to eat before she died.

C. She wanted to correct the mistakes Jim made while talking.

D. She wanted to teach her sons more because she was dying.

2.Which of the following statements is NOT right?

A. Mom was a good teacher and never wanted to stop her teaching.

B.Mom was always making her teaching fun.

C.Mom didn’t forget her teaching until she died.

D.Mom was no longer a teacher when she was at home.

3.Which of the following is the best title of this passage?

A. Once a teacher, always… B. Mom’s will

C. A teacher’s life D. A teacher’s story

查看答案和解析>>

科目：高中英語 來源：2015-2016學(xué)年山西康杰中學(xué)高一上學(xué)期期中英語試卷（解析版） 題型：單項(xiàng)填空

—Why don’t you buy an Audi instead of that car?

— I’d love to, but I can’t that right now.

A. have B. afford C. spend D. Pay

查看答案和解析>>

科目：高中英語 來源：2015-2016學(xué)年黑龍江實(shí)驗(yàn)中學(xué)高一上期中英語試卷（解析版） 題型：閱讀理解

Weekends are normally a time for shopping and last Saturday was no exception. My son Henry and I were shopping in a neighborhood market. Henry was busy weighing each new bag of vegetables I selected. I gave him a bag of potatoes and he walked over to the scale and waited in line. Suddenly, a man rushed over from behind, and stepped before him, hitting him out of the way. Henry looked shocked and scared. Seeing this I left my shopping cart and walked over to Henry, saying loudly, “Are you OK, honey? I saw what that man did to you. That was very, very wrong.”

When the man finished weighing his bag, his sudden turning around made all his onions fall to the ground. The three of us stood there, frozen for a moment. And then I bent down on my hands and knees and started collecting onions. After I handed the onions to the man, he accepted them and put them into his bag. After Henry and I picked up all the onions, the man walked away without saying anything. We didn’t discuss the event until we got back in the car.

On the way back home, Henry said through tears, “Mommy, I’ve a frustrating day. That man cut right in front of me. And we had to help him pick up his onions! Why did we do that? That didn’t make any sense!”

I took a deep breath and said, “Henry, that man seemed to have a very bad mood today. We should forgive him. I was also angry with the man for treating you rudely. I really wanted to kick him. But doing that doesn’t make any sense. If we hadn’t helped him, we might have felt good for a moment, but then I bet we would have felt really sorry for a long time. You and I have a lot of love to share. Maybe that man doesn’t have much. People who behave badly still need love.”

A cheerful smile appeared on Henry’s face. It was a smile of promise kept. It was the best smile I had ever seen. It was a good moment. It may have been my best mommy moment ever.

1.What did the man do?

A. He cut in the line.

B. He hit Henry on the head.

C. He hurried away without paying.

D. He ran into Henry suddenly.

2. What can we infer from the passage?

A. The author was not angry at all with what the man had done.

B. The man was very sorry for what he had done to Henry.

C. At last, Henry learned a very valuable life lesson from the event.

D. Henry didn’t help the author pick up the onions for the man.

3. Which of the following word can best describe the author?

A. Narrow-minded. B. Broad-minded.

C. Strong-willed. D. Bad-tempered.

查看答案和解析>>

科目：高中英語 來源：2014-2015學(xué)年甘肅武威第五中學(xué)高三11月月考英語試卷（解析版） 題型：書面表達(dá)

假如你是校自行車俱樂部負(fù)責(zé)人，請(qǐng)你根據(jù)下列提示，用英語準(zhǔn)備一份口頭通知。

俱樂部的主要活動(dòng)內(nèi)容：

①開展每周一次的基礎(chǔ)訓(xùn)練，有教師輔導(dǎo)，安排在課外活動(dòng)時(shí)間；

②每月一次的戶外活動(dòng)，安排在雙休日；

③同其他團(tuán)體進(jìn)行比賽。

參加俱樂部的好處：強(qiáng)身健體，廣交朋友；

注意事項(xiàng)：器材自備；活動(dòng)免費(fèi)；

如何加入俱樂部（方式自擬）。

注意： ①通知要包括以上所有信息，要有適當(dāng)發(fā)揮

②詞數(shù)：100左右。開頭和結(jié)尾已經(jīng)寫好，不計(jì)入總詞數(shù)。

Boys and Girls,

Welcome to the Cycling Club.

.

.

.

.

.

.

查看答案和解析>>

同步練習(xí)冊(cè)答案