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Is language, like food, a basic human need without which a child at a critical period of life can be starved and damaged? Judging from the drastic experiment of Frederick II in the thirteenth century, it may be. Hoping to discover what language a child would speak if he heard no mother tongue, he told the nurses to keep silent.

All the infants died before the first year. But clearly there was more than lack of language here. What was missing was good mothering. Without good mothering, in the first year of life especially, the capacity to survive is seriously affected.

Today no such severe lack exists as that ordered by Frederick. Nevertheless, some children are still backward in speaking. Most often the reason for this is that the mother is insensitive to the signals of the infant, whose brain is programmed to learn language rapidly. If these sensitive periods are neglected, the ideal time for acquiring skills passes and they might never be learned so easily again. A bird learns to sing and to fly rapidly at the right time, but the process is slow and hard once the critical stage has passed.

Experts suggest that speech stages are reached in a fixed sequence and at a constant age, but there are cases where speech has started late in a child who eventually turns out to be of high IQ. At twelve weeks a baby smiles and makes vowel-like sounds; at twelve months he can speak simple words and understand simple commands; at eighteen months he has a vocabulary of three to fifty words. At three he knows about l,000 words which he can put into sentences, and at four his language differs from that of his parents in style rather than grammar.

Recent evidence suggests that an infant is born with the capacity to speak. What is special about man's brain, compared with that of the monkey, if the complex system which enables a child to connect the sight and feel of, say, a toy-bear with the sound pattern "toy-bear". And even more incredible is the young brain's ability to pick out an order in language from the mixture of sound around him, to analyse, to combine and recombine the parts of a language in new ways.

But speech has to be induced, and this depends on interaction between the mother and the child, where the mother recognizes the signals in the child's babbling, grasping and smiling, and responds to them. Insensitivity of the mother to these signals dulls the interaction because the child gets discouraged and sends out only the obvious signals. Sensitivity to the child's non-verbal signals is essential to the growth and development of language.

1.The purpose of Frederick II's experiment was_______.

A.to prove that children are born with the ability to speak

B.to discover what language a child would speak without hearing any human speech

C.to find out what role careful nursing would play in teaching a child to speak

D.to prove that a child could be damaged without learning a language

2.The reason some children are backward in speaking is most probably that_______.

A.they are incapable of learning language rapidly

B.they are exposed to too much language at once

C.their mothers respond inadequately to their attempts to speak

D.their mothers are not intelligent enough to help them

3.What is exceptionally remarkable about a child is that_______.

A.he is born with the capacity to speak　　B.he has a brain more complex than an animal's

C.he can produce his own sentences　　　D.he owes his speech ability to good nursing

4.Which of the following can NOT be inferred from the passage?

A.The faculty of speech is inborn in man.

B.Encouragement is anything but essential to a child in language learning.

C.The child's brain is highly selective.

D.Most children learn their language in definite stages.

5.If a child starts to speak later than others, he will_______.

A.have a high IQ　　　　　　　　B.be less intelligent

C.be insensitive to verbal signals　　D.not necessarily be backward

长难例句分析

［长难例句］But speech has to be induced, and this depends on interaction between the mother and the child, where the mother recognizes the signals in the child's babbling, grasping and smiling, and responds to them.

［结构分析］本句的主干是But speech has to be induced, and this depends on interaction between the mother and the child。where引导的是非限定性定语从句。

［参考译文］但是，学习语言必须加以引导，这取决于母子之间的互动效果。在他们的互动中，母亲识别出婴儿咿呀学语、抓挠及微笑的信号，并对这些信号作出反应。

全文参考译文

语言是否像食物一样，是人类的一种基本需要，没有它，孩子可能会在成长关键时期挨饿和受到损害呢？根据13世纪Frederick II 所做的大量实验可推断出，事实的确如此。为了发现孩子在听不到母语的情况下会讲什么语言，他让护理人员保持沉默。

所有的婴儿在一年内都死亡了。但很明显，不只是因为缺少语言。缺少的还有良好的母爱。没有良好的母爱，尤其是在生命的第一年内，婴儿的生存能力受到严重影响。

今天已不存在像Frederick所安排的那样严重缺乏的情况。尽管如此，一些孩子在语言学习方面仍很迟钝。主要原因是由于母亲对大脑已做好快速学习语言的孩子所发出的信号不敏感。如果错过这些敏感时期，那么获取技巧的理想时期就会被错过，他们再也不能如此轻松地学习。鸟在正确时期能很快地学会歌唱和飞翔，但一旦这样的关键时期被错过，学习过程就会缓慢而困难。

专家们认为，不同语言阶段都有其固定的顺序和年龄，但是，也存在这样的情形，开始说话晚的婴儿长大后却智商很高。婴儿在12周时，开始会笑并会发出类似元音的声音；在12个月时，他能讲简单的话并能理解简单的命令；18个月时，就能有3～50的词汇量。到3岁时，约认识1000个单词，并能用这些单词造句；4岁时，他的语言与其父母的差异仅表现在风格上而不是语法上面。

最新资料显示，婴儿生来就有说话的能力。与猴子的大脑相比，人脑的特殊之处就在于其组成大脑的复杂系统所具有的功能。该系统能使婴儿把所见所感联系起来，例如，把玩具熊及其发音模式联系起来。更加令人难以置信的是，婴儿的大脑能从其周围混杂的声音中识别出语言的顺序，能够分析并按新的方法组合与重组语言各个部分。

但是，学习语言必须加以引导，这取决于母子之间的互动效果。在他们的互动中，母亲识别出婴儿咿呀学语、抓挠及微笑的信号，并对这些信号作出反应。母亲对这些信号的不敏感会削弱母子间的互动效果，因为孩子不能得到鼓励就会只发出这些明显的信号。对婴儿非语言信号的敏感性对婴儿语言的形成和发展是极其必要的。

题目答案与解析

1.Frederick Ⅱ的实验的目的是_________。

A.用来证实婴儿天生具有语言的能力

B.弄清楚听不到任何人类语言时孩子会讲什么语言

C.弄清楚保育员教婴儿说话所起的作用

D.用来证实不学语言的婴儿会受到损害

【答案】B

【解析】依据文中第一段最后一句可以得出答案。文中第一段最后一句指出：“为了发现婴儿在听不到母语的情况下会讲什么语言，他要求保育员保持沉默。”B项正好与之相一致。

2.一些孩子在讲话方面迟钝最可能的原因是_________。

A.他们不能快速地学习语言

B.他们立刻接触了太多的语言

C.他们的母亲对他们说话所做的努力没有充分的反应

D.他们母亲的才智不足以帮助他们

【答案】C

【解析】从第三段第三句可以得出正确答案。文中第三段第三句指出：“其原因往往是母亲对大脑已作好快速学习语言准备的婴儿所发出的信号不敏感。”由此可知，C项为正确答案。

3.婴儿的非凡之处在于_________。

A.他天生具有语言的能力　　B.他的大脑比动物的大脑复杂

C.他能发出自己的句子　　　D.他的语言能力归功于良好的看护

【答案】C

【解析】从第五段最后一句可以得出答案。文章第五段最后一句话指出：“更令人难以置信的是，婴儿的大脑能从其周围杂乱的声音中识别出语言的顺序，能分析和按新的方式组合与重组语言的各个要素。”C项正好与之一致。

4.以下哪项无法从文中推出？

A.人类语言才能是天生的。

B.在婴儿学习语言的过程中，鼓励一点儿也不重要。

C.婴儿的大脑具有高度的选择性。

D.多数婴儿在一定的阶段学习语言。

【答案】B

【解析】本题为推论题。B项正好与文章内容相左。

5.如果一个婴儿开始讲话比其他婴儿晚，他将_________。

A.具有高智商　　B.不聪明　　C.对语言信号感觉迟钝　　D.未必迟钝

【答案】D

【解析】从第四段第一句中“但是在某些情况中，开始说话晚的婴儿后来却有较高的智商”可知，D项为正确答案。