阅读理解 Language learning begins with listening. Individual children vary greatly in the amount of listening they do before they start speaking, and late starters are often long listeners. Most children will "obey" spoken instructions some time before they can speak, though the word "obey" is hardly accurate as a description of the eager and delighted cooperation usually shown by the child. Before they can speak, many children will also ask questions by gestures and by making questioning noises. Any attempt to trace the development from the noises babies make to their first spoken words leads to considerable difficulties. It is agreed that they enjoy making noises, and that during the first few months one or two noises sort themselves out as particularly indicative(标示的)of delight, distress, sociability, and so on. But since these cannot be said to show the baby''s intention to communicate, they can hardly be regarded as early forms of language. It is agreed, too, that from about three months they play with sounds for enjoyment, and that by six months they are able to add new sounds to their store. This self-imitation (自我模仿) leads on to deliberate imitation of sounds made or words spoken to them by other people. The problem then arisen so to the point at which one can say that these imitations can be considered as speech. It is a problem we need not get our teeth into. The meaning of a word depends on what a particular person means by it in a particular situation; and it is clear that what a child means by a word will change as he gains more experience of the world. Thus the use, at say seven months, of "mama" as a greeting for his mother cannot be dismissed as a meaningless sound simply Because he also uses it at other times for his father, his dog, or anything else he likes. Playful(顽皮的) and apparently meaningless imitation of what other people say continues after the child has begun to speak for himself. I doubt, however, whether anything is gained when parents cash in on this ability in an attempt to teach new sounds.

单选题 Children who start speaking late _______.

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】推理判断题。文章第一段第二句提到late starters are often long listeners(学说话越迟，孩子听的时间就越长)，解答此题的关键是理解long listeners的含义。根据文章第一句Language learning begins with listening可以判断听是语言的基础，因此说话晚的孩子应该是在习得听的技能时需要的时间长，因此答案选[C]。其他三项都没有正确解释long listeners的含义。

单选题 According to the second paragraph, a baby''s first noises are _______.

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】事实细节题。文章第二段第二句说几个月大的婴儿发出的一两个声音表明他们高兴、痛苦、友好等，即这些声音反应了他们的情绪和感情，因此[B]项与原文内容一致，为正确答案。原文说these cannot be said to show the baby''s intention to communicate，这些声音不能表明婴儿想交流的意图，因此[A]项错误;[D]项可由they can hardly be regarded as early forms of language排除。婴儿这时发出的声音是self-imitation，而不是对成年人说话的模仿，故[C]错。

单选题 The problem Of deciding at what point a baby''s imitations can be considered as speech _______.

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】推理判断题。文章第三段说我们需要认真处理这个问题，get one''s teeth into的含义是“专注于做某事，认真处理某事”。并说一个单词的意义取决与说话人在特定场合给予它的意思，而随着孩子经历的增多，他赋予所用单词的含义也会改变。接着文章举例说婴儿发出的“mama”声音不能因为认为它毫无意义而不考虑，因为他会使用它来指代任何他喜欢的其他事物，从修饰语“he likes”可知“跚跏”还是含有一定的含义的，由此可见要判断什么时候婴儿的模仿可以被当作“speech”很难，既然界线不清楚，那么也就不重要了，因此答案选[A]。