Babies understand what their mothers say, even when they speak a language their children have never heard before, scientists claim.

The researchers found that one-year-olds reacted in exactly same way to their mothers’ voices regardless of whether they were speaking English or Greek, showing what mothers have long known – that babies pick up on tone of voice rather than the words themselves.

The researchers, from Cardiff University’s School of Psychology, observed babies as they watched their mothers perform actions with toys using the English words “whoops” and “there”. The scientists studied reactions from one-year-old babies to their mums’ voices even when they were speaking both English and Greek, and keeping the same tone of voice. The academics found that babies reproduced the same reactions regardless of whether they knew the language.  

Study leader Dr Merideth Gattis of Cardiff University’s School of Psychology says, “What this work showed was that children could have access to understanding simply through tone of voice. We did ‘whoops’ and ‘there’ in two languages and got exactly the same results.” The research, published in the journal Cognitive Development, was conducted on 84 babies aged between 14 and 18 months, over the course of a year, with none of the babies having any previous exposure to Greek.

Dr Gattis says that children respond to tone clues in their parents’ voices from an early age.

She says, “Tone of voice is a really useful signal of what someone is thinking. We never have direct access to other people’s minds, except the signals in language that they give out.” She says the study shows that it is less important what parents say than how they say it.

Dr Gattis adds, “A child may ask if you like his / her drawing, for example. You might say yes, but if you don’t sound enthusiastic, the meaning may not get across.” Before children begin to speak, parents should use exaggerated tone when speaking to them.

1.According to the text, what have mothers long-known?

A．Babies have a better understanding of English.

B．Babies pick up on tone of voice.

C．Babies like their mothers’ performances.

D．Babies like drawing from an early age.

2.Which of the following is TRUE, according to the study?

A．Tone of voice is the most useful sign of what someone is thinking.

B．After children begin to speak, tone becomes unimportant.

C．The babies acted the same way regardless of the language.

D．The research was conducted on 48 babies.

3.According to the text, Dr. Gattis believes that _________.

A．we have no access to other people’s minds

B．babies can’t understand what “yes” means

C．parents should always sound enthusiastic

D．how a parent speaks is more important than what he or she says

4.What’s the text mainly about?

A．The content of the journal Cognitive Development.

B．The famous works of Dr. Gattis.

C．Babies understanding their mothers through tone.

D．Babies having the potential to learn language well.

5.The text can be classified as _________.

A．a report          B．an advertisement    C．a handbook        D．a guide

 

Not all the students obey the rules. Which of the following statement has the same meaning as it. 

A．None of the students obey the rules.

B．All the students don’t obey the rules.

C．No students obey the rules

D．All of the above

 

— You know what? I am going to Shanghai on a free trip this weekend.

­ —  _____.

A．You must have been cheated.              B．It is none of my business.

C．Good for you!                          D．So what?

 

Tom wrote several novels in his twenties, none of ______ published.

A．them             B．it                C．which            D．that

 

文中共有10處語言錯誤，每句中最多有兩處。錯誤涉及一個單詞的增加、刪除或修改。增加：在缺詞處下加一個漏子符號（/\），并在其下面寫出該加的詞。刪除：把多余的詞用斜線（\）劃掉。修改：在錯的詞下劃一橫線，并在該詞下面寫出修改后的詞。

注意：1. 每處錯誤僅限1詞；2. 只允許修改10處，多者（從第11處起）不計分。

I had an interested experience last year. After I had left a small village in the south of French, I drove on to the next town. On the way, a young man waved me. I stopped and he asks me for a lift.. As soon as he had got into the car, I said good morning to him with French and he answered in the same language. Apart from a little words, I don’t know any French at all. None of us spoke during the journey. I had nearly reached to the town, when the young man suddenly said , very slow, “ Do you speak English?” As I soon learned, he was English him!