阅读理解
How Babies Learn Language
During the first year of a child''s life, parents and careers are concerned with its physical development very carefully. It is interesting just how easily children learn language. Children who are just three or four years old, who cannot yet tie their shoelaces, are able to speak in full sentences without any specific language training.
Language as Instinct?
The current view of child language development is that it is an instinct—something as natural as eating or sleeping. According to experts in this area, this language instinct is innate—something each of us is born with. But this prevailing view has not always enjoyed widespread acceptance.
Learning as Repetition?
In the middle of last century, experts of the time, including a renowned professor at Harvard University in the United States, regarded child language development as the process of learning through mere repetition. Language "habits" developed as young children were they used incorrect forms of language. Over time, a child, according to this theory, would learn language much like a dog might learn to behave properly through training.
The Role of Interaction
Yet even though the modern view holds that language is instinctive, experts like Assistant Professor Lise Eliot are convinced that the interaction a child has with its parents and caregivers is crucial to its developments. The language of the parents and caregivers is so important that the child will learn to speak in a manner very similar to the model speakers it hears.
Baby Talk
Given that the models parents provide are so important, it is interesting to consider the role of "baby talk" in the child''s language development. Baby talk is the language produced by an adult speaker who is trying to exaggerate certain aspects of the language to capture the attention of a young baby.
Dr. Roberta Colinkoff believes that babies benefit from baby talk. Experiment show that immediately after birth habits respond more to infant-directed talk than they do to adult-directed talk. When using baby talk, people exaggerate their facial expressions, which helps the baby to begin to understand what is being communicated. She also notes that the exaggerated nature and repetition of baby talk helps infants to learn the difference between sounds. Since babies have a great deal of information to process, baby talk helps. Although there is concern that baby talk may persist too long, Dr. Golinkoff says that it stops being used as the child gets older, that is, when the child is better able to communicate with the parents.
Recognition of Sounds
Professor Jusczyk has made a particular study of babies'' ability to recognize sounds, and says they recognize the sound of their own names as early as four and a half months. Babies know the meaning of Mummy and Daddy by about six months, which is earlier than was previously believed. By about nine month, babies begin recognizing frequent patterns in language. A baby will listen longer to the sounds that occur frequently, so it is good to frequently call the infant by its name.
An experiment at Johns Hopkins University in USA, in which researchers went to the homes of 16 nine-month-olds, confirms this view. The researchers arranged their visits for ten days out of a two-week period. During each visit the researcher played an audio tape that included the same three stories. The stories include odd words such as "python" or "hornbill", words that were unlikely to be encountered in the babies'' everyday experience. After a couple of weeks during which Nothing was done, the babies were brought to the research lab, where they listened to two recorded lists of words. The first include words heard in the story. The second included similar words, but not the exact ones that were used in the stories.
Jusczyk found the babies listened longer to the words that had appeared in the stories, which indicated that the babies had extracted individual words form the story. When a control group of 16 nine-month-olds, who had not heard the stories, listened to the two groups of words, they showed no preference for either list.
This does not mean that the babies actually understand the meanings of the words, just the sound patterns. It supports the idea that people are born to speak, and have the capacity to learn language from the day they are born. This ability is enhanced if they are involved in conversation. And, significantly, Dr. Eliot reminds parents that babies and toddlers need to feel they are communication. Clearly, interaction with another speaker encourages the baby to use language and speed up their process of learning to talk.
单选题
Children can learn their first language without being taught.
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】本句的关键词可确定为without being taught。我们在第一段最后一句找到了without any specific language training(不用进行专门的语言训练)。通读全句发现与题干意义相同。所以判断为YES。
单选题
From the time of their birth humans seem to have an ability to learn language.
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】本句的关键词要确定为from the time of their birth。在第二段我们找到了birth的同源词born。通读全句，发现原文说语言能力是something each of us is born with(与生俱来的)。题干意义与此相符，判断为YES。
单选题
According to experts in the 1950s and 1960s, language learning is very similar to the training of animals.
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】本句的关键此可确定为in the 1950s and 1960s及training animals。在第三段第一句，我们找到了In the middle of last century，与in the 1950s and 1960s是同义关系，说明找到了原文。该段最后一句说Over time，a child，according to this theory，would learn language much like a dog might learn to behave properly through training(按照这种理论，随着时间的推移，小孩学会说话就像狗通过训练学会适当做事一样。)题干意义与此重合，判断为YES。
单选题
Repetition in language learning is important, according to Dr. Eliot.
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】本句的关键词要确定为Dr．Eliot与repetition。我们先在第四段找到了Dr．Eliot。然后看有什么观点。在本段中他深信小孩与父母及保姆的相互交往致关重要(that the interaction a child has with its parents and caregivers is crucial to its developments)，但并没有说重复很重要。因此要判断为NOT GIVEN。
单选题
Dr. Golinkoff is concerned that "baby talk" is spoken too much by some parents.
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】本句的关键词就应确定为Dr．Golinkoff与babytalk Babytalk首先出现在第5段，Dr．Golinkoff出现在第6段，当然重点要放在第6段。在此段最后，她说，虽然有人担心儿语说得太长，但一旦小孩能与父母更好地交流时就是停止(Although there is concern that baby talk may persist too long，Dr Golinkoff says that it stops being used as the child gets older，that is，when the child is better able to communicate with the parents．)。可见担心的不是Dr．Golinkoff。因此，应判断为NO。
单选题
The first word a child learns to recognize is usually "Mummy" or "Daddy".