Is language, like food, a basic human need? J...

Is language, like food, a basic human need? Judging from the extreme experiment of Frederick in the 13th 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 babies died before the first year. But clearly there was more than language deprivation (剥夺，丧失). What was missing was good mothering. Without good mothering, in the first year of life especially, the ability to survive is seriously affected.

Today no such extreme deprivation 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 signals of the baby, whose brain is programmed, to mop up language rapidly. There are critical times, it seems when children learn more rapidly. If these sensitive periods are neglected, the ideal time for acquiring skills passes and they might never be learned so easily again.

Linguists suggest that speech milestones are reached in a fixed order 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.

Recent evidence suggests that a baby is born with the ability to speak. What is special about man’s brain, compared with that of the monkey, is the complex system which enables a child to connect the sight and feel of, say, a teddy bear with the sound pattern “teddy bear”.

But speech has to be developed, and this depends on interaction between the mother and the child, where the mother recognizes the signals in the child’s babbling, clinging, grasping, crying, smiling, and responds to them. Insensitivity of the mother to these signals reduces the interaction because the child gets discouraged and sends out only the obvious signals. Sensitivity to the child’s nonverbal (非语言的) signals is basic to the growth and development of language.

1.Frederick’s experiment was extreme because _________.

A．he wanted to prove children are born with ability to speak

B．he wanted his nurses to say another language

C．he was unkind to the nurses

D．he ignored the importance of mothering to the babies

2.The reason that some children are backward in speaking is most likely that _________.

A．they do not listen carefully to their mothers

B．their mothers do not respond to their attempts to speak

C．their brain has to absorb too much language at once

D．their mothers are not intelligent enough to help them

3.In paragraph 3, by “critical times” the author means _________.

A．difficult periods in the child’s life

B．moments when the child becomes critical towards its mother

C．important stages in the child’s development

D．times when mothers often neglect their children

4.If a child starts to speak later than others, he will _________ in future.

A．have a high IQ                          B．be less intelligent

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

5.If the mother seldom responds to her child’s signals, _________.

A．the child will be able to speak properly

B．the child will continue to give out signals

C．the child will invent a language of own

D．the child will make little effort to speak

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

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 experiment of Frederick 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 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 there 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 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 order 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 they can speak simple words and understand simple commands; at eighteen months he has a vocabulary of three to five words. At three he knows about 1,000 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, is 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 analyze, to combine and recombine the parts of a language in new ways.

But speech has to be induced（激发，引起）, and this depends on interaction between the mother and the child, where the mother recognizes the signals in the children’s babbling（咿呀声）,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 nonverbal signals is essential to the growth and development of language.

1.The writer mentioned the experiment of Frederick to __________.

A. support his idea             　　　　　 B. introduce his topic

C. describe a new finding        　　　　　 D. give an example of his theory

2.The purpose of Frederick’s experiment was to __________.

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

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

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

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

3.The reason why some children are backward in speaking is most probably that ________.

A. they are not able to learn language rapidly

B. they are exposed to too much language at once

C. their mothers do not respond enough to their attempts to speak

D. their mothers are not clever enough to help them

4. If a child starts to speak later than others, he will __________ in future.

A. have a high IQ                    　　 B. be less intelligent

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

5. Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?

A. A child is born with the ability to speak.

B. A child’s brain has a complex system which helps to connect the sight and feel of an object.

C. A child can produce his own sentences.

D. A child owes his speech ability to good nursing.

6. According to the passage, the writer agrees that__________.

A. the infants will certainly die because of lack of language.

B. all children learn their language in fixed stages

C. the child’s brain is highly selective

D. insensitivity to the child’s non-verbal signals will not affect the development of the child’s language

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

The human mind can 　　　　 many tasks that other animals cannot, like using language and judging what other people are thinking．

A． carry out　　　　　 B． take out　　　　　　 C． put out　　　　　　 D． bring out

高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

Food is one of the most basic and important daily needs. It gives us the strength and energy we need 1. (work) and play. Food also plays a role in our social interactions. Whether we 2. (celebrate) important occasions or just relaxing with friends, eating is an important social pastime. It is also an important part of our culture. 3. a particular people like to eat can tell us a lot 4. a country’s geography, history and traditions.

高三英语语法填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

Humans like to live and work in groups. Language is the “cement”(胶合剂)1.holds these groups together. Language is part of culture. Culture, in this sense2.(mean)all those customs, skills, and attitudes that are part of the behavior of a　 3.(particularly) group. What you think　 4.what you want in life are all affected by the culture of the group in which you5. (raise). Groups of people live in different ways. They may have different skills, organizations, and art forms. Their family life may be completely different from yours.

Human beings are inventive animals. They can decide to change their cultures in order to meet various6.(situation). Of all living things, human beings are the　 7.(clever). They can choose 8.(live)in many environments and in a wide variety of ways. Only human beings can choose where and how they want to live and then improve the physical environment to help9. (they)realize these choices. Acquiring the wisdom to make wise choices 10.(be) the lasting challenge of being human.

高三英语短文填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

The human body is a living machine, and, like all machines, it needs "fuel" （燃料） to supply it with energy．This is provided by the food we eat．But how much do we need to stay healthy?

The energy value of food is usually measured in calories．A calorie is the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of 1 kg of water by 1℃．The number of calories people need per day is different．Also, the number of calories you use at any one moment normally depends on the activity you are in．For example, you need more calories for standing than for sitting, more for running than for walking, and so on．

The energy in food is in the form of three kinds of chemical materials-carbohydrate（碳水化合物）, protein（蛋白质）and fat．Carbohydrate provides 3．8 Cal/gm, protein 4．0 Cal/gm, and fat 8．8 Cal/gm．Each food contains different amount of these materials, as the round pictures show．

1．The amount of calories supplied by equal amounts of milk, rice, and peanuts is the largest in the case of ________．

A．milk             B．rice               C．peanuts        D．rice or peanuts

2．Choose one statement from among A-D that agrees with the passage and the pictures above．

A．You need more calories for swimming than for mountain climbing．

B．Food contains energy in the form of carbohydrates, proteins and fuel．

C．Different people need different amounts of energy depending on their age, sex and the activities they are in．

D．3 grams of milk provides 16．6 calories because carbohydrate provides 3．8 Cal/gm, protein 4．0 Cal/gm and fat 8．8 Cal/gm．

3．This article mainly tells us ________．

A．all the energy is in food           B．the human body needs energy

C．the number of calories depends on your activity

D．we must only eat peanuts to get calories

高三英语阅读理解简单题查看答案及解析

Friendship is one of the basic bonds (纽带) between human beings. While the characteristics of friendship might vary from one country to another, people from all cultures not only enjoy friends but need them.

　Many studies have shown that teenagers who have no friends often suffer from psychological disorders. It has been shown that teenagers, perhaps more than any other age group, need companionship and a sense of belonging. The negative consequences of loneliness have also been observed among the elderly. The death of a spouse often leaves a widow or a widower totally bereft (失去). If, however, they are surrounded by friends and relatives and if they are able to articulate（清楚表达） their feelings, they are more likely to recover from their grief.

　“No man is an island.” In other words, we are all parts of society. We all need the love, admiration, respect and moral support of other people. If we are fortunate, our friends will provide us with all of these necessary aspects of life.

　As most people observe, there are many levels of friendship. The degree or intensity of friendship varies depending on the personality of the individuals involved and the context of the relationships. Extroverts (性格外向者) enjoy being surrounded by many people whereas introverts（性格内向者）are perhaps content with fewer but more intense friendships.

　Everyone is not equally open with all their friends. The degree of intimacy (密切) is determined by many factors. Close friends can be formed at any stage in one’s life but they are usually very rare. Not very many people have more than a few really close friends. Irrespective of the level of intimacy, all friendships are based on reciprocity（相互性）, honesty and a certain amount of love and affection.

1.The second paragraph implies that _____..

2.The degree of intimacy of friendship mainly depends on _____ .

3.The author thinks that close friends _____ .

4.The word “irrespective”(Last sentence, Para. 5) means _____ .

高三英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析

Friendship is one of the basic bonds between human beings. While the characteristics of friendship might vary from one country to another, people from all cultures not only enjoy friends but need them.

Many studies have shown that teenagers who have no friends often suffer from psychological disorders. It has been shown that teenagers, perhaps more than any other age group, need companionship and a sense of belonging. The negative consequences of loneliness have also been observed among the elderly. The death of a spouse often leaves a widow or a widower totally bereft. If, however, they are surrounded by friends and relatives and if they are able to express their feelings, they are more likely to recover from their grief.

“No man is an island.” In other words, we are all parts of society. We all need the love, admiration, respect and moral support of other people. If we are fortunate, our friends will provide us with all of these necessary aspects of life.

As most people observe, there are many levels of friendship. The degree or intensity of friendship varies depending on the personality of the individuals involved and the context of the relationships. Outgoing persons enjoy being surrounded by many people whereas shy persons are perhaps content with fewer but more intense friendships.

Everyone is not equally open with all their friends. The degree of closeness is determined by many factors. Close friends can be formed at any stage in one’s life but they are usually very rare. Not very many people have more than a few really close friends. Regardless of the level of closeness, all friendships are based on reciprocity (互惠), honesty and a certain amount of love and affection.

1.Who are more likely to suffer from psychological disorders without friends?

A. Teenagers.　　 B. Adults.

C. The elderly.　　 D. A couple.

2.What does the sentence “No man is an island” really mean?

A. No man is willing to live on an island.

B. Man usually doesn’t go to an island

C. Everyone is related with our society.

D. Our society is just like an island.

3.What can we learn about outgoing people?

A. They like being alone.

B. They are fond of making friends.

C. They have intense friendships.

D. They have fewer close friends indeed

4.What does the last paragraph mainly talk about?

A. The formation of close friends.

B. The number of real friends.

C. Honesty, love and affection.

D. Factors to determine the degree of closeness.

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

Here is ____ basic equipment you need for hikes and ____ basic tips for successful hiking.

A. the; the        B. /; the           C. /; /          D. the; /

高三英语单项填空困难题查看答案及解析

– What a terrible collision accident!

– Judging from the scene, personally, it is one or two car drivers, rather than the truck driver, who _____.

A. is to blame          B. are blamed                   C. are to blame    D. is blamed

高三英语单项填空困难题查看答案及解析