They may be small and not able to speak, but babies are proving their amazing cleverness. Scientists began finding infants’ skills are more than they are supposed to be.
_________
Speaking of music, babies can’t seem to resist it. Not only are their ears turned to the beats, babies can actually dance to the music.
To test babies’ dancing ability, the researchers played recordings of classical music, rhythmic beats and speech to infants, and recorded the results. They also invited professional dancers to analyze how well the babies matched their movements to the music. The babies moved their arms, hands, legs feet and heads in response to the music, much more than to the speech. The finding suggests this dancing ability is innate(与生俱来的) in humans, though the researchers aren’t sure why it becomes weaker later in their life.
Learning Quickly while Sleeping
Babies can learn even while asleep, according to a 2011 study. In experiments with 26 sleeping infants, each just 1 to 2 days old, scientists played a musical tone followed by a puff of air to their eyes 200 times over the course of a half-hour. 124 electrodes(电极) stuck on the head and face of each baby recorded brain activity during the experiments. The babies rapidly learned to foretell a puff of air upon hearing the tone, showing a four-time increase on average in the chances of tightening their eyelids in response to the sound by the end of the experiments.
As newborns spend most of their time asleep, this newfound ability might be crucial to rapidly adapting to the world around them and help to ensure their survival, researchers said.
Judging Characters Well
Judging another person helpful or harmful is crucial when choosing friends. And that ability starts early. Kiley Hamlin of Yale University showed both 6-and 10-month-olds a puppet(木偶) show, in which one character helped another climb a hill. In another scene a third character pushed the climber down. The little ones then got to choose which character they preferred. For both age groups, most babies chose the helper character. This character-judging ability could be baby’s first step in the formation of morals, Hamlin thought.

  1. 1.

    Which of the following subtitles can fill in the underlined blank?

    1. A.
      Dancing to Music
    2. B.
      Babies’ Amazing Abilities
    3. C.
      Learning to Dance Quickly
    4. D.
      Born to Dance
  2. 2.

    The underlined word “it” in the third paragraph refers to______.

    1. A.
      the finding
    2. B.
      the dancing ability
    3. C.
      the response
    4. D.
      the baby
  3. 3.

    The experiment with 26 sleeping infants prove that_______.

    1. A.
      babies can learn even while asleep
    2. B.
      babies can respond to the world around them
    3. C.
      babies can tighten their eyelids in response to the sound
    4. D.
      babies can communicate with others while asleep
  4. 4.

    In the last experiment, most babies chose the helper character, showing that________.

    1. A.
      babies can judge a person helpful or harmful
    2. B.
      babies love to see a puppet show
    3. C.
      babies were born to help others
    4. D.
      babes have learned to help others

In terms of history, Australian cuisine(烹饪)was on the basis of traditional British cooking brought to the country by the first settlers.Modern Australian cuisine,however.has been heavily influenced by Australia’ s Asian and Southeast Asian neighbors.The trend,encouraged by long-term government health programs,is towards low-fat healthy cookery including low-fat meat and lightly cooked,colorful,steamed or fried vegetables.Besides,1ike many English families,in many Australian homes,a widespread tradition of having roast turkey,chicken,and ham for Christmas 1unch or dinner still remains.
Generally breakfast is light in most parts of Australia.but in the colder regions porridge or meals similar to the full English breakfast may be consumed.In recent years,however,most Australian people prefer light breakfast in order to control their weight.The 1ight breakfast commonly consists of cereals(谷类),toast and fruit.A heavier breakfast will frequently include fried bacon,eggs,mushrooms,etc.Drinks taken at breakfast include tea,coffee,milk or juice.
The evening meal is the main meal of the day for most Australians,and when consumed at home,it is often eaten with members of the immediate family.The dishes served will vary widely according to the tastes and background of the family.A typical Australian restaurant might offer sandwiches,chicken or other meat-based dishes and cakes.
In recent years,take—away food is becoming popular in Australia.American-style chain restaurants are common including Subway,KFC,and Mcdonald’s.They a11 come from America.Most of these restaurants sell high quality food at reasonable prices.
With the high 1evels of immigration(移民)from the Middle East.South and Southeast Asia.Korea.China and other countries from a11 over the world to Australia.many authentic(正宗的)and high-quality restaurants are run by first-and second-generation immigrants from these areas.

  1. 1.

    According to the first paragraph,what does the Australian government encourage its people to do?

    1. A.
      To try to eat 10w—fat healthy foods.
    2. B.
      To have roast turkey for Christmas dinner.
    3. C.
      To use traditional British cooking methods.
    4. D.
      To 1earn from Asian neighbors to cook foods.
  2. 2.

    The main idea of the second paragraph is         .

    1. A.
      what breakfast is 1ike in Australia
    2. B.
      w hat Australian people drink at breakfast
    3. C.
      that Australians often have a heavy breakfast
    4. D.
      that most Australian people don’ t have breakfast to lose weight
  3. 3.

    The underlined part the immediate family in Paragraph 3 probably mean people who      .

    1. A.
      have the same family names
    2. B.
      do some cooking together at times
    3. C.
      live next to one another in the same area
    4. D.
      are very directly – related members of a family
  4. 4.

    From the passage, we learn that        .

    1. A.
      fewer and fewer immigrants enter Australia every year
    2. B.
      Subway is a chain restaurant and it is from the USA
    3. C.
      home cooking is becoming more and more popular in Australia
    4. D.
      a typical restaurant mainly offers porridge and noodles for supper

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