阅读理解。
Language learning begins with listening. Children are greatly different in the amount of listening they do
before they start speaking, and later starters are often long listeners. Most children will "obey" spoken
instructions some time before they can speak, though the word "obey" is hardly accurate as a description of
the eager and delighted cooperation usually shown by the child. Before they can speak, many children will
also ask questions by gesture and by making questioning noises.
Any attempt to study the development from the noises babies make to their first spoken words leads to
considerable difficulties. It is agreed that they enjoy making noises, and that during the first few months one
or two noises sort themselves as particularly expressive as delight, pain, friendliness, and so on. But since
these can't be said to show the baby's intention to communicate, they can hardly be regarded as early forms
of language. It is agreed, too, that from about three months they play with sounds for enjoyment, and that by
six months they are able to add new words to their store. This selfimitation (模仿) leads on to deliberate (有意
的) imitation of sounds made or words spoken to them by other people. The problem then arises as to the point
at which one can say that these imitations can be considered as speech.
It is a problem we need to get out teeth into. The meaning of a word depends on what a particular person
means by it in a particular situation and it is clear that what a child means by a word will change as he gains
more experience of the world. Thus the use at seven months of "mama" as a greeting for his mother cannot be
dismissed as a meaningless sound simply because he also uses it at other times for his father, his dog, or
anything else he likes. Playful and meaningless imitation of what other people say continues after the child has
begun to speak for himself, I doubt, however whether anything is gained when parents take advantage of this
ability in an attempt to teach new sounds.
1. Before children start speaking _____.
A. they need equal amount of listening
B. they need different amounts of listening
C. they are all eager to cooperate with the adults by obeying spoken instructions
D. they can't understand and obey the adult's oral instructions
2. Children who start speaking late _____.
A. may have problems with their listening
B. probably do not hear enough language spoken around them
C. usually pay close attention to what they hear
D. often take a long time in learning to listen properly
3. A baby's first noises are _____.
A. an expression of his moods and feelings
B. an early form of language
C. a sign that he means to tell you something
D. an imitation of the speech of adults
4. The problem of deciding at what point a baby's imitations can be considered as speech _____.
A. is important because words have different meanings for different people
B. is not especially important because the changeover takes place gradually
B. is one that should be properly understood because the meaning of words changes with age
D. is one that should be completely ignored (忽略) because children's use of words is often meaningless
