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：
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大學的Marie Cheour懷疑他們進步這么快的原因可能是 他們不僅在醒著時學語言，而且在睡覺時也在學語言?？梢?，這個命題是真的。
2.C 第二段第一句說: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，他們可以識別許多音，甚至一些簡單的詞。從“許多 音”是推導不出“許多元音的”，反向的推導是成立的。
3.C 第四段的最后一句話是這樣說的：...while the others listened to other,easier-to-distinguish vowel sounds.……而其他的嬰兒只聽其他的較容易區(qū)分的元音。“其他的較容易區(qū)分的元 音”是指“00”和“ee”這兩個元音。這兩個音容易區(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短語:something in between介于兩種語言之間的音。因此，這 個在邊緣上的音不是芬蘭語中的音。
5.A 該題的意思是：此研究表明，嬰兒睡覺時大腦皮層仍在工作。答案可以從下面這個句子中找到：…unlike adults,babies don't "turn off" their cerebral cortex while they sleep.跟大人不一樣，嬰兒睡覺時沒有把大腦皮層“關掉”。 '
6.B 本題是這樣說的:假如一個大人學一種語言時想學得快一點，他可以把一盤語言錄音帶 放在枕頭下面。這個命題是錯的。文章最后一段是這樣說的：她接著說，這種技能可能在生 命的最初過程中漸漸消失，因此應忘掉這樣一個想法,即你作為一個成年人只需要把一盤語 言錄音帶塞在枕頭下面就可以學會法語中一些麻煩的音。但是，雖然這并不能幫助成年 人……，所有這些話都是對本題的否定。
7.B 本題的意思是:CheoUr的發(fā)現(xiàn)是沒有價值的。這不對。文章是這樣說的:但是，雖然這 并不能幫助成年人，Cheour希望這些睡眠時間可用來幫助那些從基因上來說會發(fā)生語言障 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：
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大學的Marie Cheour懷疑他們進步這么快的原因可能是 他們不僅在醒著時學語言，而且在睡覺時也在學語言?？梢?，這個命題是真的。
2.C 第二段第一句說: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，他們可以識別許多音，甚至一些簡單的詞。從“許多 音”是推導不出“許多元音的”，反向的推導是成立的。
3.C 第四段的最后一句話是這樣說的：...while the others listened to other,easier-to-distinguish vowel sounds.……而其他的嬰兒只聽其他的較容易區(qū)分的元音。“其他的較容易區(qū)分的元 音”是指“00”和“ee”這兩個元音。這兩個音容易區(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短語:something in between介于兩種語言之間的音。因此，這 個在邊緣上的音不是芬蘭語中的音。
5.A 該題的意思是：此研究表明，嬰兒睡覺時大腦皮層仍在工作。答案可以從下面這個句子中找到：…unlike adults,babies don't "turn off" their cerebral cortex while they sleep.跟大人不一樣，嬰兒睡覺時沒有把大腦皮層“關掉”。 '
6.B 本題是這樣說的:假如一個大人學一種語言時想學得快一點，他可以把一盤語言錄音帶 放在枕頭下面。這個命題是錯的。文章最后一段是這樣說的：她接著說，這種技能可能在生 命的最初過程中漸漸消失，因此應忘掉這樣一個想法,即你作為一個成年人只需要把一盤語 言錄音帶塞在枕頭下面就可以學會法語中一些麻煩的音。但是，雖然這并不能幫助成年 人……，所有這些話都是對本題的否定。
7.B 本題的意思是:CheoUr的發(fā)現(xiàn)是沒有價值的。這不對。文章是這樣說的:但是，雖然這 并不能幫助成年人，Cheour希望這些睡眠時間可用來幫助那些從基因上來說會發(fā)生語言障 礙的嬰兒。