Not long ago,people thought babies were not able 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 by smiling to please her mother or other caregivers.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 said the baby clearly liked the story he heard before he was born.They said 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 of 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(干預(yù)) 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 heard.

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

　　【語篇導(dǎo)讀】如何才能開發(fā)嬰兒的智力,科學(xué)家的研究給出了答案。

　　1.According to the passage,which of the following is NOT the factor that influences intelligence development in babies?

　　A.The environment.

　　B.Their peers.

　　C.Mother’s sensitivity.

　　D.Education before birth.

　　答案　B

　　解析　細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)第一段中的“Scientists note that babies are strongly influenced by their environment.”可知,嬰兒的成長是受環(huán)境的影響的;由第一段中的“One study shows that babies can learn before they are born.”可知D項(xiàng)正確;由第三、四段可知C項(xiàng)正確。故選B項(xiàng)。

　　2.What is the purpose of the experiment in which newborn babies heard the stories?

　　A.To prove that babies can learn on the first day they are born.

　　B.To show mothers can strongly influence intelligence development of their babies.

　　C.To indicate early education has a deep effect on the babies’ language skills.

　　D.To prove that babies can learn before they are born.

　　答案　D

　　解析　細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)第二段中的“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 said the baby clearly liked the story he heard before he was born.”可知選D項(xiàng)。

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

　　A.The children of women who did not suffer from depression.

　　B.The children of depressed but caring mothers.

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

　　D.The children with high communication abilities.

　　答案　C

　　解析　細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)第三段中的“The children of depressed women did poorly in tests of language skills and understanding what they heard.”以及文章最后一句“Children did better when their mothers were caring,even when they suffered from depression.”可知,患抑郁癥且冷漠的母親的孩子語言能力是最差的。

　　4.What is the main idea of the passage?

　　A.Scientific findings about how intelligence develops in babies.

　　B.Scientific findings about how babies develop before birth.

　　C.Scientific findings about how time has an effect on babies’ intelligence.

　　D.A study shows babies are not able to learn things until they are five or six months old.

　　答案　A

　　解析　主旨大意題。通讀全文可知這篇文章主要是講述科學(xué)家對于嬰兒的智力發(fā)展的發(fā)現(xiàn)成果。故選A項(xiàng)。

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