Question

【題目】 As to the question what is a best age to learn a language, many would rush to the conclusion that it’s best to start young. Though it is true to some extent, now science offers a much more complex view of how our relationship with languages evolves over a lifetime-and there is much to encourage late beginners.

Broadly speaking, different life stages give us different advantages in language learning. As babies, we have a better ear for different sounds s as toddlers(幼兒), we can pick up native accents with astonishing speed. As adults, we have longer attention spans and important skills like literacy that allow us to continually expand our vocabulary, even in our own language. And a wealth of factors beyond ageing—like social circumstances, teaching methods, and even love and friendship—can affect how many languages we speak and how well.

“Not everything goes downhill with age, “says Antonella Sorace, a professor of developmental linguistics and director of the Bilingualism Matters Centre at the University of Edinburgh. She gives the example of what is known as “explicit learning”: studying a language in a classroom with a teacher explaining the rules. “Young children are very bad at explicit learning, because they don’t have the cognitive(認知) control and the attention and memory capabilities,” Sorace says. “Adults are much better at that. So that can be something that improves with age.”

A study by researchers in Israel found, for example, that adults were better at grasping an artificial language rule and applying it to new words in a lab setting. The scientists compared three separate groups: 8-year-olds, 12-year-olds, and young adults. The adults scored higher than both younger groups, and the 12-year-olds also did better than the younger children. They suggested that their older participants may have benefited from skills that come with maturity—like more advanced problem-solving strategies—and greater linguistic experience. In other words, older learners tend to already know quite a lot about themselves and the world and can use this knowledge to process new information.

【1】What is the correct understanding of the underlined sentence in paragraph 1?

A.We should stay up late to learn a language.

B.Late beginners strive hard to learn a language.

C.Late beginners can also learn a language well.

D.We should give much encouragement to late beginners.

【2】According to the passage, language learning is NOT affected by .

A.our inborn abilitiesB.our native accents

C.our cognitive controlD.our attention spans

【3】Why do the adults score higher than both younger groups in the test?

A.They have already known quite a lot about the words.

B.They draw upon their existing knowledge to help.

C.They have been taught the way to learn a language.

D.They are better at learning artificial language rules.

【4】What is the purpose of the passage?

A.To compare and evaluate.B.To examine and assess.

C.To argue and discuss.D.To inform and explain.

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】C

【2】B

【3】B

【4】D

【解析】

這是一篇說明文。文章介紹影響語言學習的因素。

【1】句意猜測題。根據第一段中As to the question what is a best age to learn a language, many would rush to the conclusion that it’s best to start young. Though it is true to some extent, now science offers a much more complex view of how our relationship with languages evolves over a lifetime“對于學習語言的最佳年齡這個問題，很多人會匆忙得出結論:最好從年輕開始。雖然這在某種程度上是正確的，但現在的科學提供了一個更為復雜的觀點，來解釋我們與語言的關系是如何在一生中演變的�！庇纱送浦�，劃線句意是“學語言晚的人也可以學好一門語言�！惫蔬xC。

【2】細節(jié)理解題。根據第二段中As adults, we have longer attention spans and important skills like literacy that allow us to continually expand our vocabulary, even in our own language.“作為成年人，我們有更長的注意力廣度和一些重要的技能，比如讀寫能力，這些能讓我們不斷擴大詞匯量，甚至是母語的詞匯�！备鶕�第三段中“Young children are very bad at explicit learning, because they don’t have the cognitive(認知) control and the attention and memory capabilities,” “小孩子在直接學習方面非常糟糕，因為他們沒有認知控制、注意力和記憶能力，”由此可知，語言學習受我們的天生的能力、我們的認知控制和我們的注意力的影響，而語言學習不受母語口音的影響。故選B。

【3】細節(jié)理解題。根據最后一段中The adults scored higher than both younger groups, and the 12-year-olds also did better than the younger children. They suggested that their older participants may have benefited from skills that come with maturity—like more advanced problem-solving strategies—and greater linguistic experience. In other words, older learners tend to already know quite a lot about themselves and the world and can use this knowledge to process new information.“成年人的得分比兩組小孩都高，12歲的孩子也比更小的孩子表現得更好。他們認為，年長的參與者可能從成熟的技能中獲益——比如更高級的解決問題的技巧——以及更豐富的語言經驗。換句話說，年長的學習者往往已經對自己和世界有了相當多的了解，并且能夠利用這些知識來處理新的信息�！庇纱丝芍�，成年人在測試中的得分要高于兩個年輕人是因為他們利用現有的知識提供幫助。故選B。

【4】目的意圖題。根據第一段中As to the question what is a best age to learn a language, many would rush to the conclusion that it’s best to start young. Though it is true to some extent, now science offers a much more complex view of how our relationship with languages evolves over a lifetime-and there is much to encourage late beginners.“對于學習語言的最佳年齡這個問題，很多人會匆忙得出結論:最好從年輕開始。雖然這在某種程度上是正確的，但現在的科學提供了一個更加復雜的觀點，來解釋我們與語言的關系是如何在一生中演變的——還有很多值得鼓勵的地方�！庇纱丝芍�，這篇文章的目的是告知和解釋。故選D。