Easy Learning
Students should be jealous.Not only do babies get to doze their days away,but they've also mastered the fine art of learning in their sleep.
By the time babies are a year old they can recognize a lot of sounds and even simple words.Marie Cheour at the University of Turku in Finland suspected that they might progress this fast because they learn language while they sleep as well as when they are awake.
To test the theory,Cheour and her colleagues studied 45 newborn babies in the first few days of their lives.They exposed all the infants to an hour of Finnish vowel sounds—one that sounds like"oo",another like"ee"and a third boundary vowel peculiar to Finnish and similar languages that sounds like something in between.EEG recordings of the infant's brains before and after the session showed that the newborns could not distinguish the sounds.
Fifteen of the babies then went back with their mothers,while the rest were split into two sleep-study groups.One group was exposed throughout their night-time sleeping hours to the same three vowels,while the others listened to other,easier-to-distinguish vowel sounds.
When tested in the morning,and again in the evening,the babies who'd heard the tricky boundary vowel all night showed brainwave activity indicating that they could now recognise this new sound.They could identify the sound even when its pitch was changed,while none of the other babies could pick up the boundary vowel at all.
Cheour doesn't know how babies accomplish this night-time learning,bunt she suspects that the special ability might indicate that unlike adults,babies don't “turn off” their cerebral cortex while they sleep.The skill probably fades in the course of the first year of life,she adds—so forget the idea that you can pick up tricky French vowels as an adult just by slipping a language tape under your pillow.But while it may not help grown-ups,Cheour is hoping to use the sleeping hours to give remedial help to babies who are genetically at risk of language disorders.
練習(xí)：
1.Babies can learn language even in their sleep.
A.Right B.Wrong C.Not mentioned
2.An infant can recognize a lot of vowels by the time he or she is a year old.
A.Right B.Wrong C.Not mentioned
3.Finnish vowels are easy to distinguish.
A.Right B.Wrong C.Not mentioned
4.The three vowels mentioned in this article are all Finnish sounds.
A.Right B.Wrong C.Not mentioned
5.The study shows that the infant's cerebral cortex is working while he is asleep.
A.Right B.Wrong C.Not mentioned
6.If an adult wants to learn a language faster,he can put a language tape under his pillow.
A.Right B.Wrong C.Not mentioned
7.Cheour's finding is worthless.
A.Right B.Wrong C.Not mentioned
答案與題解：
1.A 第二段的最后一句話是這樣說(shuō)的：Marie Cheour at the University of Turku in Finland suspected that they might progress this fast because they learn language while they sleep as well as when they are awake.芬蘭Turku大學(xué)的Marie Cheour懷疑他們進(jìn)步這么快的原因可能是 他們不僅在醒著時(shí)學(xué)語(yǔ)言，而且在睡覺(jué)時(shí)也在學(xué)語(yǔ)言。可見(jiàn)，這個(gè)命題是真的。
2.C 第二段第一句說(shuō):By the time babies are a year old they can recognise a lot of sounds and even simple words.嬰兒到了一歲時(shí)，他們可以識(shí)別許多音，甚至一些簡(jiǎn)單的詞。從“許多 音”是推導(dǎo)不出“許多元音的”，反向的推導(dǎo)是成立的。
3.C 第四段的最后一句話是這樣說(shuō)的：...while the others listened to other,easier-to-distinguish vowel sounds.……而其他的嬰兒只聽(tīng)其他的較容易區(qū)分的元音?！捌渌妮^容易區(qū)分的元 音”是指“00”和“ee”這兩個(gè)元音。這兩個(gè)音容易區(qū)分并不等于所有的元音都容易區(qū)分。
4.B 注意第三段中有這樣一個(gè)短語(yǔ):something in between介于兩種語(yǔ)言之間的音。因此，這 個(gè)在邊緣上的音不是芬蘭語(yǔ)中的音。
5.A 該題的意思是：此研究表明，嬰兒睡覺(jué)時(shí)大腦皮層仍在工作。答案可以從下面這個(gè)句子中找到：…unlike adults,babies don't "turn off" their cerebral cortex while they sleep.跟大人不一樣，嬰兒睡覺(jué)時(shí)沒(méi)有把大腦皮層“關(guān)掉”。 '
6.B 本題是這樣說(shuō)的:假如一個(gè)大人學(xué)一種語(yǔ)言時(shí)想學(xué)得快一點(diǎn)，他可以把一盤(pán)語(yǔ)言錄音帶 放在枕頭下面。這個(gè)命題是錯(cuò)的。文章最后一段是這樣說(shuō)的：她接著說(shuō)，這種技能可能在生 命的最初過(guò)程中漸漸消失，因此應(yīng)忘掉這樣一個(gè)想法,即你作為一個(gè)成年人只需要把一盤(pán)語(yǔ) 言錄音帶塞在枕頭下面就可以學(xué)會(huì)法語(yǔ)中一些麻煩的音。但是，雖然這并不能幫助成年 人……，所有這些話都是對(duì)本題的否定。
7.B 本題的意思是:CheoUr的發(fā)現(xiàn)是沒(méi)有價(jià)值的。這不對(duì)。文章是這樣說(shuō)的:但是，雖然這 并不能幫助成年人，Cheour希望這些睡眠時(shí)間可用來(lái)幫助那些從基因上來(lái)說(shuō)會(huì)發(fā)生語(yǔ)言障 礙的嬰兒。
Students should be jealous.Not only do babies get to doze their days away,but they've also mastered the fine art of learning in their sleep.
By the time babies are a year old they can recognize a lot of sounds and even simple words.Marie Cheour at the University of Turku in Finland suspected that they might progress this fast because they learn language while they sleep as well as when they are awake.
To test the theory,Cheour and her colleagues studied 45 newborn babies in the first few days of their lives.They exposed all the infants to an hour of Finnish vowel sounds—one that sounds like"oo",another like"ee"and a third boundary vowel peculiar to Finnish and similar languages that sounds like something in between.EEG recordings of the infant's brains before and after the session showed that the newborns could not distinguish the sounds.
Fifteen of the babies then went back with their mothers,while the rest were split into two sleep-study groups.One group was exposed throughout their night-time sleeping hours to the same three vowels,while the others listened to other,easier-to-distinguish vowel sounds.
When tested in the morning,and again in the evening,the babies who'd heard the tricky boundary vowel all night showed brainwave activity indicating that they could now recognise this new sound.They could identify the sound even when its pitch was changed,while none of the other babies could pick up the boundary vowel at all.
Cheour doesn't know how babies accomplish this night-time learning,bunt she suspects that the special ability might indicate that unlike adults,babies don't “turn off” their cerebral cortex while they sleep.The skill probably fades in the course of the first year of life,she adds—so forget the idea that you can pick up tricky French vowels as an adult just by slipping a language tape under your pillow.But while it may not help grown-ups,Cheour is hoping to use the sleeping hours to give remedial help to babies who are genetically at risk of language disorders.
練習(xí)：
1.Babies can learn language even in their sleep.
A.Right B.Wrong C.Not mentioned
2.An infant can recognize a lot of vowels by the time he or she is a year old.
A.Right B.Wrong C.Not mentioned
3.Finnish vowels are easy to distinguish.
A.Right B.Wrong C.Not mentioned
4.The three vowels mentioned in this article are all Finnish sounds.
A.Right B.Wrong C.Not mentioned
5.The study shows that the infant's cerebral cortex is working while he is asleep.
A.Right B.Wrong C.Not mentioned
6.If an adult wants to learn a language faster,he can put a language tape under his pillow.
A.Right B.Wrong C.Not mentioned
7.Cheour's finding is worthless.
A.Right B.Wrong C.Not mentioned
答案與題解：
1.A 第二段的最后一句話是這樣說(shuō)的：Marie Cheour at the University of Turku in Finland suspected that they might progress this fast because they learn language while they sleep as well as when they are awake.芬蘭Turku大學(xué)的Marie Cheour懷疑他們進(jìn)步這么快的原因可能是 他們不僅在醒著時(shí)學(xué)語(yǔ)言，而且在睡覺(jué)時(shí)也在學(xué)語(yǔ)言。可見(jiàn)，這個(gè)命題是真的。
2.C 第二段第一句說(shuō):By the time babies are a year old they can recognise a lot of sounds and even simple words.嬰兒到了一歲時(shí)，他們可以識(shí)別許多音，甚至一些簡(jiǎn)單的詞。從“許多 音”是推導(dǎo)不出“許多元音的”，反向的推導(dǎo)是成立的。
3.C 第四段的最后一句話是這樣說(shuō)的：...while the others listened to other,easier-to-distinguish vowel sounds.……而其他的嬰兒只聽(tīng)其他的較容易區(qū)分的元音?！捌渌妮^容易區(qū)分的元 音”是指“00”和“ee”這兩個(gè)元音。這兩個(gè)音容易區(qū)分并不等于所有的元音都容易區(qū)分。
4.B 注意第三段中有這樣一個(gè)短語(yǔ):something in between介于兩種語(yǔ)言之間的音。因此，這 個(gè)在邊緣上的音不是芬蘭語(yǔ)中的音。
5.A 該題的意思是：此研究表明，嬰兒睡覺(jué)時(shí)大腦皮層仍在工作。答案可以從下面這個(gè)句子中找到：…unlike adults,babies don't "turn off" their cerebral cortex while they sleep.跟大人不一樣，嬰兒睡覺(jué)時(shí)沒(méi)有把大腦皮層“關(guān)掉”。 '
6.B 本題是這樣說(shuō)的:假如一個(gè)大人學(xué)一種語(yǔ)言時(shí)想學(xué)得快一點(diǎn)，他可以把一盤(pán)語(yǔ)言錄音帶 放在枕頭下面。這個(gè)命題是錯(cuò)的。文章最后一段是這樣說(shuō)的：她接著說(shuō)，這種技能可能在生 命的最初過(guò)程中漸漸消失，因此應(yīng)忘掉這樣一個(gè)想法,即你作為一個(gè)成年人只需要把一盤(pán)語(yǔ) 言錄音帶塞在枕頭下面就可以學(xué)會(huì)法語(yǔ)中一些麻煩的音。但是，雖然這并不能幫助成年 人……，所有這些話都是對(duì)本題的否定。
7.B 本題的意思是:CheoUr的發(fā)現(xiàn)是沒(méi)有價(jià)值的。這不對(duì)。文章是這樣說(shuō)的:但是，雖然這 并不能幫助成年人，Cheour希望這些睡眠時(shí)間可用來(lái)幫助那些從基因上來(lái)說(shuō)會(huì)發(fā)生語(yǔ)言障 礙的嬰兒。