单选题 Watch a baby between six and nine months old, and you will observe the basic concepts of geometry being learned. Once the baby has mastered the idea that space is three-dimensional, it reached out and begins grasping various kinds of objects. It is then, from perhaps nine to fifteen months, that the concepts of sets and numbers are formed. So far, so good. But now an ominous development takes place. The nerve fibers in the brain insulate themselves in such a way that the baby begins to hear sounds very precisely. Soon it picks up language, and it is then brought into direct communication with adults. From this point on, it is usually downhill all the way for mathematics, because the child now becomes exposed to all the nonsense words and beliefs of the community into which it has been so unfortunate as to have been born. Nature having done very well by the child to this point, having permitted it the luxury of thinking for itself for eighteen months, now abandons it to the arbitrary conventions and beliefs of society. But at least the child knows something of geometry and numbers, and it will always retain some memory of the early happy days, no matter what vicissitudes it may suffer later on. The main reservoir of mathematical talent in any society is thus possessed by children who are about two years old, children who have just learned to speak fluently.

单选题 Which of the following activities would teach a baby about geometry?
A. Picking up language. B. Communicating with others.
C. Recognizing numbers. D. Catching different objects.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 本题的四个选项中，只有D项为正确答案，这可从文中的“Watch a baby between six and nine months old，and you will observe the basic concepts of geometry being learned．Once the baby has mastered the idea that space is three-dimensional，it reaches out and begins grasping various kinds of objects．”推知。
单选题 At what age does a child probably begin to learn about sets and numbers?
A. Six months. B. Eighteen months. C. Fifteen months. D. Nine months.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 本题的四个选项中，只有D项为正确答案，这可从文中的“It is then，from perhaps nine to fifteen months，that the concepts of sets and numbers are formed．”推知。
单选题 Which of the following conclusions is supported by the passage?
A. Preschool education should stress society's beliefs and conventions.
B. The language concepts used in early education interfere with mathematical reasoning.
C. Language teaching should incorporate some mathematical formulas.
D. It is hopeless to try to teach children mathematics after the age of two.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 本题的四个选项中，只有C项为正确答案，这可从文中的“Soon it picks up language，and it is then brought into direct communication with adults．From this point on，it is usually downhill all the way for mathematics”推知。
单选题 The author's attitude toward early childhood education can best be described as a sort of ______.
A. indifference B. suspicious C. compromising D. surprising
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 本题的四个选项中，只有B项为正确答案，这可从文中的内容推知，即作者对早期的儿童时期教育的态度是怀疑的。
单选题 The word " vicissitude" (in boldface) in the context means ______.
A. change B. transformation C. variation D. the rubs and worries of life
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] vicissitude在文中是指人生经历的沧桑。四个选项：change“变化；找回的零钱”；transformation“转化；转换；改革”；variation“变化； [生物]变异，变种”；the rubs and worries of life“人生的辛酸”。所以只有D项符合题意。