Not long ago, people thought babies were not able to learn things until they were five or six months old. Yet doctors in the United States say babies begin learning on their first day of life.

Scientists note that babies are strongly influenced by their environment. They say a baby will smile if her mother does something the baby likes. A baby learns to get the best care possible by smiling to please her mother or other caregiver. This is how babies learn to connect and communicate with other human beings.

One study shows that babies can learn before they are born. The researchers placed a tape recorder on the stomach of a pregnant woman. Then, they played a recording of a short story.  On the day the baby was born, the researchers attempted to find if he knew the sounds of the story repeated while in his mother. They did this by placing a device in the mouth of the newborn baby. The baby would hear the story if he moved his mouth one way. If the baby moved his mouth the other way, he would hear a different story. The researchers say the baby clearly liked the story he heard before he was born. They say the baby would move his mouth so he could hear the story again and again.

Another study shows how mothers can strongly influence social development and language skills in their children. Researchers studied the children from the age of one month to three years. The researchers attempted to measure the sensitivity of the mothers. The women were considered sensitive if they supported their children’s activities and did not interfere unnecessarily. They tested the children for thinking and language development when they were three years old. Also, the researchers observed the women for signs of depression.

The children of depressed women did not do as well in tests as the children of women who did not suffer from depression. The children of depressed women did poorly in tests of language skills and understanding what they hear.

These children also were less cooperative and had more problems dealing with other people. The researchers noted that the sensitivity of the mothers was important to the intelligence development of their children. Children did better when their mothers were caring, even when they suffered from depression.

1.According to the passage, which of the following is NOT the factor that influences intelligence development in babies?

A. The environment.          B. Mother’s sensitivity.

C. Their peers (同龄人)  D. Education before birth.

2.What is the purpose of the experiment in which newborn babies heard the stories?

A. To prove that babies can learn before they are born.

B. To prove that babies can learn on the first day they are born.

C. To show mothers can strongly influence intelligence development in their babies.

D. To indicate early education has a deep effect on the babies’ language skills.

3.Which group of children did the worst in tests of language skills?

A. The children of depressed mothers who cared little for their children.

B. The children of women who did not suffer from depression.

C. The children of depressed but caring mothers.

D. Children with high communication abilities.

4.What is the main idea of the passage?

A. Scientific findings about how babies develop before birth.

B. Scientific findings about how the environment has an effect on babies’ intelligence.

C. A study shows babies are not able to learn things until they are rice or six months old.

D. Scientific findings about how intelligence develops in babies.

Playing with toy blocks (积木) may lead to improved language development in young children, a new study reported.
Early childhood is an important period in the development of young minds. The newborn brain grows three times in size between birth and age 2. Scientists have said that certain activities during this important period may promote (促进) healthy development while others may hold it back, and development of memory and language may especially be helped by imaginative play.
After six months, language scores among half of the 175 children aged 1-1/2 to 2-1/2 who were sent plastic blocks were 15 percent higher than a matched group that did not receive the free blocks, according to the study by researchers at the University of Washington in Seattle.
Parents were given ideas about how to help their children play with the blocks, then were told to keep diaries of their children’s activities over four days. Finally, all the parents filled out questionnaires that judged their children’s vocabulary, grammar, and other language abilities. Study author Dimitri Christakis said unstructured play with blocks motivated children’s thinking, memory and physical skills at a time when a child’s brain is growing rapidly. “They are the foundation of thought and language,” he wrote of the skills learned from building blocks. “Older children begin to make up stories for these objects .”
Such play may also take the place of less helpful activities such as watching TV, he said, adding parents ought to have doubts about some toy-makers’ words. “An increasing number of media-based products are making ungrounded (无根据的) claims that they can make children smarter, more literate, and more musical,” Christakis said.
【小题1】What can we learn from the second paragraph?

       One day in September we were doing repair work on my parents’ old house to get it ready for my youngest daughter’s wedding. We had to  36  a great climbing plant that had grown  37  a roof beam（房梁），so that we could repair the roof and   38  the walls.

       When my husband was taking the plant away, he found a  39  of a blackbird that had made its home in the leaves. He then  40  something  41  among that mass of earth and straw of the nest. He broke the earth around it into pieces with his finger tips and, to his  42  ,saw glittering gold. It was a child’s bracelet（手镯）. He ran into the house to  43  me.

       “You won’t believe that the   44  blackbirds not only steal the best fruit we   45  to feed on,” he said,“but they also want their children to  46  in a cradle（摇摆）of gold!”

       When my daughter came over on the eve of the  47  ,we told her about this   48  occurrence.

       “Don’t you remember, Mother?” she said with a loud   49  .“When I was eight, you gave me a bracelet that I   50  a few days later while out playing in the yard? It was this one!”

       As the bracelet no longer  51  its owner and was dirty, I decided to take it into my safekeeping.

       In December of the following year, the young couple’s baby son was baptized（受洗礼）.Among the   52  the newborn baby received, I placed his mother’s bracelet, now shining like  53  . I hope that if my grandson  54  loses it, one of the   55  that live in my backyard is somewhere nearby.

36．A．remove                   B．cover                      C．grow                      D．water

37．A．beyond                   B．over                       C．across                     D．through

38．A．build                      B．paint                      C．rescue                     D．print

39．A．nest                        B．baby                       C．body                      D．egg

40．A．moved                    B．got                         C．picked                    D．noticed

41．A．nice                       B．colorful                  C．shiny                      D．special

42．A．horror                    B．surprise                  C．delight                    D．disappointment

43．A．ask                         B．tell                         C．show                      D．give

44．A．working                 B．cheating                  C．dreaming                D．thieving

45．A．buy                        B．plant                      C．store                       D．collect

46．A．lie                          B．sing                        C．listen                      D．wait

47．A．party                      B．Christmas               C．birthday                  D．wedding

48．A．important               B．strange                   C．terrible                   D．funny

49．A．cry                         B．sigh                        C．laugh                      D．sound

50．A．hid                         B．threw                            C．lost                        D．broke

51．A．fitted                      B．satisfied                  C．matched                  D．interested

52．A．jewels                    B．toys                        C．clothes                    D．presents

53．A．attractive                B．new                        C．modern                   D．golden

54．A．almost                    B．just                        C．even                       D．ever

55．A．blackbirds               B．grandchildren          C．neighbors                D．mice

Money, jewels and important documents are not the only valuable placed in banks these days. Some mothers store their breast milk in banks.
There’re ten breast banks set up across the United States, where mothers can donate their extra milk for other women’s babies. Experts say breast milk is the best food for babies. The World Health Organization says it is the only food babies should get during the first six months of life, in most cases. Breast milk is especially important for babies born too early. Sometimes these premature babies must stay in the hospital for many weeks.
James Cameron is a doctor who treats newborns at Lutheran Children’s Hospital in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He says breast milk is almost like medicine. Doctor James Cameron said, “The fact is that there are so many different proteins and specialized sugars in the breast milk that the mom’s able to make that help provide immunity. It’s very important for the health of the newborn.”
There are several reasons some mothers may not be able to breastfeed. Some are not able to produce enough milk. Others might be taking medicines or have medical problems that prevent the process.
Lucy Baur lives near Fort Wayne. She fed her milk to both her children and always had more milk than they needed. She wanted to donate to the Indiana Mothers Milk Bank in Indianapolis. But freezing and shipping milk can be costly. Then, a donor station opened near her home.
Milk donations in the United States work like this: Donors must be willing to provide almost three liters of breast milk. They freeze the milk and take it to the station. There, employees warm the milk and mix it with other mothers’ milk. Then, the milk is heated to kill bacteria. After that, the technicians test samples of all the milk to make sure it is safe and healthful. The milk is re-frozen and sent to the main milk bank. The milk bank transports the milk to hospitals to feed premature or sick babies. Donors are tested for diseases before any milk is accepted. They are not permitted to smoke tobacco, use illegal drugs or drink too much alcohol.
【小题1】The purpose of setting up breast milk banks is to_____.

完型填空（共20小题，每题1分，满分20分）
One day in September we were doing repair work on my parents’ old house to get it ready for my youngest daughter’s wedding. We had to  41  a great climbing plant that had grown across a roof beam（房梁）, so that we could repair the roof and   42  the walls.
When my husband was taking the plant away, he found a  43  of a blackbird. He then  44  something  45  among that mass of earth and straw of the nest. He broke the earth __46__ it into pieces with his finger tips and, to his  47 ,saw glittering gold. It was a child’s bracelet（手镯）. He ran into the house to  48  me.
“You won’t believe that the   49  blackbirds not only steal the best fruit we plant to feed on,” he said, “but they also want their children to  50  in a cradle（摇篮）of gold!”
When my daughter ___51__ on the eve of the  52  ,we told her about this   53  occurrence (事件).
“Don’t you remember, Mother?” she said with a loud   54 .“When I was eight, you gave me a bracelet that I   55  a few days later while out playing in the yard? It was this one!”
As the bracelet no longer  56  its owner and was dirty, I decided to take it into my safekeeping.
In December of the following year, the young couple’s baby son was baptized（受洗礼）.Among the   57  the newborn baby received, I placed his mother’s bracelet, now shining like  58 . I hope that if my grandson  59  loses it, one of the   60 that live in my backyard is somewhere nearby.