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        .

2.Children who start speaking late        .

3.The problem of deciding at what point a baby’s imitations can be considered as speech        .

4.The speaker wants to tell us that        .

NOT all memories are sweet. Some people spend all their lives trying to forget bad experiences. Violence and traffic accidents can leave people with terrible physical and emotional scars. Often they relive these experiences in nightmares.

Now American researchers think they are close to developing a pill, which will help people forget bad memories. The pill is designed to be taken immediately after a frightening experience. They hope it might reduce, or possibly wipe out, the effect of painful memories.

In November, experts tested a drug on people in the US and France. The drug stops the body releasing chemicals that fix memories in the brain. So far the research has suggested that only the emotional effects of memories may be reduced, not that the memories are wiped out. They are not sure to what degree people’s memories are affected.

The research has caused a great deal of argument. Some think it is a bad idea, while others support it.

Supporters say it could lead to pills that prevent or treat soldiers' troubling memories after war.

They say that there are many people who suffer from terrible memories.

"Some memories can ruin people's lives. They come back to you when you don't want to have them in a daydream or nightmare. They usually come with very painful emotions," said Roger Pitman, a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. "This could relieve a lot of that suffering."

But those who are against the research say that maybe the pills can change people’s memories and changing memories is very dangerous because memories give us our identity. They also help us all avoid the mistakes of the past.

"All of us can think of bad events in our lives that were terrible at the time but make us who we are. I'm not sure we want to wipe those memories out, "said Rebecca Dresser, a medical ethicist.

1.The passage is mainly about               .

A. a new medical invention            

B. a new research on the pill

C. a way of wiping out painful memories 

 D. an argument about the research on the pill

2.The drug tested on people can            .

A. cause the brain to fix memories      

B. stop people remembering bad experiences

C. prevent body producing certain chemicals

D. wipe out the emotional effects of memories

3.We can infer from the passage that            .

A. people doubt the effects of the pills

B. the pill will certainly stop people's emotional memories

C. taking the pill will do harm to people's physical health

D. the pill has already been produced and used by the public in America

4.Which of the following does Rebecca Dresser agree with in the last paragraph ?

A. some memories can ruin people's lives.

B. people want to get rid of bad memories.

C. experiencing bad events makes us different from others.

D. the pill will reduce people's sufferings from bad memories.

5.You may probably read the passage in __________

A. a guidebook                              B. a textbook  

C. a medical magazine                D. a science fiction

Parents are often amazed at how fast their child grows and develops. New research has determined that the ability to quantify may develop much sooner than most parents realize.

Kristy vanMarle, professor of the University of Missouri, has determined that contrary to what previous studies have shown, infants（婴儿）are able to quantify substances（物质）—like sand or water—as early as 10 months. As long as the difference between the two substances is large enough, infants will choose the larger amount, especially when it comes to food.

With the assistance of her team researchers, vanMarle tested the quantifying skills of babies by presenting them with two cups: one containing a small amount of food, and one containing a larger amount. Consistently, the babies chose the larger amount.

“Several studies throughout the last 15 years have shown that infants are very good at telling how many objects they see; however, infants don’t seem to count things like water or sand,” vanMarle said. “What we’re saying is that they can quantify substances; it’s just much harder. The infants can see how much food goes into each cup and compare that in their memories. They decide which amount is larger, and they almost always select the larger one.”

This information further refutes（驳斥）the long-held idea that babies “know nothing of the world,” vanMarle said.

“Since psychologists have begun studying infants with sensitive measures, we’ve discovered a lot of early abilities. I think for parents, it should be exciting to know that there’s somebody in there that has some fundamental and basic knowledge of the world, and that knowledge is guiding their development,” vanMarle said.

In the future, vanMarle says this kind of study could be linked to a child’s progress in math-related skills, although programs marketed to increase those abilities, such as “Baby Einstein,” still have mixed reviews when it comes to academic study.

1.The quantifying ability refers to the ability to     .

A. choose between different substances

B. get much knowledge of the world

C. describe the quantity of something

D. obtain math-related skills

2. What is mainly talked about in Paragraph 4?

A. The process of doing research.

B. The scientific findings.

C. The final choice of infants.]

D. The observation of infants’ behavior.

3.Babies choose the larger amount of food     .

A. by saying numbers                B. with the help of parents

C. on personal preference           D. through their natural abilities

4.We can learn from the text that     .

A. some parents don’t care about their kids

B. people used to think the world is known to babies

C. little research has been done on infants

D. scholars disagree on baby-training programs

5. What’s the best title of the text?

A. Breakthrough in Baby Studies

B. Amazing Baby-training Ideas

C. Early Human Abilities

D. Unique Quantifying Methods

单词拼写（共10小题：每小题1分，满分10分）

根据下列句子及所给汉语注释或首字母，在句子右边的横线上写出空缺处各单词的正确形式。（每空只写一词）

66. If we want to keep fit, we should keep a ________(平衡) diet.

67. When she was young, she ____________(喜欢) volleyball to basketball.

68. He was highly praised for he had saved the _________ (溺水) boy.

69. Several __________(德国人) will come to visit our school next week.[来源:Zxxk.Com]

70. His voice is quite __________(相似) to what you’ve heard on the radio.

71. The boy is always doing his homework _________(粗心)

72. A concert was held at the __________(邀请) of the mayor.

73. Do you have milk ______(粉) for children?

74. The _________(惊奇) expression on her face suggested that he didn’t believe the result to be true.

75. Young drivers are far more _________(可能) to have accidents than older ones.

In recent years many countries have been faced with the problem of how to make their workers more productive. Some experts believe that the answer is to make jobs more varied. Do more varied jobs lead to greater productivity? There is something to suggest that while variety certainly makes the worker's life more enjoyable, it does not make him work harder. So variety is not important.

Other experts feel that giving the worker freedom to do his job in his own way is important and there is no doubt that this is true. The problem is that this kind of freedom cannot easily be given in the modern factory with its complicated machinery which must be used in a fixed way. Thus while freedom of choice may be important, there is very little that can be done to achieve this.

Another important consideration is how much each worker contributes to the product he is making. In most factories the worker sees only one small part of the product. Some car factories are said to be experimenting with having many small production lines rather than a large one, so that each worker contributes more to the production of the cars on his line. It would seem then that the degree of worker contribution is important.

To what extent does more money lead to greater productivity? The workers themselves certainly think this is important, but perhaps they want more money only because the work they do is so boring. Money just lets them enjoy their spare time more. A similar argument may explain demands for shorter working hours. Perhaps if companies succeed in making workers' jobs more interesting, they will neither want more money, nor will shorter working hours be so important to them.

72. Which of the following things will not increase productivity?

A. Making jobs more varied.                        

B. Longer working hours.

C. Giving workers the freedom to do his jobs in their own way.

D. Increasing the workers' contribution to production.               

73. The last sentence in this passage means that if companies manage to make workers' jobs more interesting, _________.

A. they will want more money                    

B. they will demand shorter working hours

C. more money and shorter working hours are important    

D. more money and shorter working hours will not be so important to them

74. In this passage, the writer tells us _________.

A. how to make the workers more productive 

B. possible factors leading to greater productivity

C. more money leads to greater productivity

D. how to make workers' jobs more interesting

75. The writer of this passage is probably a _____________.

   A. teacher                B. worker                        C. manager                 D. physics