Language and thought may be viewed as two independent circles overlapping in some parts. When language and thought are identical or closely parallel to each other， we may regard thought as “subvocal speech，” and speech as “（）”.A、vocal thoughtB、subvocal thoughtC、covert thoughtD、overt thought

考题 The Greeks assumed that the structure of language had some connection with the process of thought, which took root in Europe long before people realized how diverse languages could be.

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考题 Being interested in the relationship of language and thought, Whorf developed the idea that the structure of language determines the structure of habitual thought in a society.

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考题 It was such a (an) __________ when they met each other in Beijing because each thought that theother was still in Hong Kong. A.occurrence B.chance C.coincidence D.occasion

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考题共用题干 English and English Community1There is no doubt that English is a useful language.The people who speak English today make up the largest speech community in the world with the exception of speakers of Chinese.2 A speech community is similar to other kinds of communities.The people who make up the community share a common language.Often they live side by side,as they do in a neighborhood（街坊）,a village,or a city. More often they form a whole country. National boundaries,however,are not always the same as the boundaries of a speech community. A speech community is any group of people who speak the same language no matter where they happen to live.3 We may say that anyone who speaks English belongs to the English speech community. For convenience（方便）,we may divide the speakers into two groups:one in which the speakers use English as their native language,the other in which the speakers learn English as a second language for the purpose of education,commerce,and so on.4 Learning a second language extends one's vision and expands the mind.The history and literature of a second language record the real and fictional（虚构的）lives of peopleand their culture;a knowledge of them adds to our ability to understand and to feel as they feel .Learning English as a second language provides another means of communication through which the window of the entire English speech community becomes a part of our heritage.People who live in different places may belong to___________.A: a second languageB: the same languageC: the same speech communityD:any other language E:national boundariesF:a part of one's heritage

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考题共用题干 English and English Community1There is no doubt that English is a useful language.The people who speak English today make up the largest speech community in the world with the exception of speakers of Chinese.2 A speech community is similar to other kinds of communities.The people who make up the community share a common language.Often they live side by side,as they do in a neighborhood（街坊）,a village,or a city. More often they form a whole country. National boundaries,however,are not always the same as the boundaries of a speech community. A speech community is any group of people who speak the same language no matter where they happen to live.3 We may say that anyone who speaks English belongs to the English speech community. For convenience（方便）,we may divide the speakers into two groups:one in which the speakers use English as their native language,the other in which the speakers learn English as a second language for the purpose of education,commerce,and so on.4 Learning a second language extends one's vision and expands the mind.The history and literature of a second language record the real and fictional（虚构的）lives of peopleand their culture;a knowledge of them adds to our ability to understand and to feel as they feel .Learning English as a second language provides another means of communication through which the window of the entire English speech community becomes a part of our heritage.The boundaries of a speech community may be different from_________.A: a second languageB: the same languageC: the same speech communityD:any other language E:national boundariesF:a part of one's heritage

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考题共用题干 English and English Community1There is no doubt that English is a useful language.The people who speak English today make up the largest speech community in the world with the exception of speakers of Chinese.2 A speech community is similar to other kinds of communities.The people who make up the community share a common language.Often they live side by side,as they do in a neighborhood（街坊）,a village,or a city. More often they form a whole country. National boundaries,however,are not always the same as the boundaries of a speech community. A speech community is any group of people who speak the same language no matter where they happen to live.3 We may say that anyone who speaks English belongs to the English speech community. For convenience（方便）,we may divide the speakers into two groups:one in which the speakers use English as their native language,the other in which the speakers learn English as a second language for the purpose of education,commerce,and so on.4 Learning a second language extends one's vision and expands the mind.The history and literature of a second language record the real and fictional（虚构的）lives of peopleand their culture;a knowledge of them adds to our ability to understand and to feel as they feel .Learning English as a second language provides another means of communication through which the window of the entire English speech community becomes a part of our heritage. Paragraph 1________A:Threat Posed by EnglishB:Definition of a Speech CommunityC:Benefits of Learning a Second LanguageD:Advantages of Learning ChineseE:Two Groups of the English Speech CommunityF:A Widely Used Language

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考题共用题干 English and English Community1There is no doubt that English is a useful language.The people who speak English today make up the largest speech community in the world with the exception of speakers of Chinese.2 A speech community is similar to other kinds of communities.The people who make up the community share a common language.Often they live side by side,as they do in a neighborhood（街坊）,a village,or a city. More often they form a whole country. National boundaries,however,are not always the same as the boundaries of a speech community. A speech community is any group of people who speak the same language no matter where they happen to live.3 We may say that anyone who speaks English belongs to the English speech community. For convenience（方便）,we may divide the speakers into two groups:one in which the speakers use English as their native language,the other in which the speakers learn English as a second language for the purpose of education,commerce,and so on.4 Learning a second language extends one's vision and expands the mind.The history and literature of a second language record the real and fictional（虚构的）lives of peopleand their culture;a knowledge of them adds to our ability to understand and to feel as they feel .Learning English as a second language provides another means of communication through which the window of the entire English speech community becomes a part of our heritage. Overall there are more speakers of Chinese than of_________.A: a second languageB: the same languageC: the same speech communityD:any other language E:national boundariesF:a part of one's heritage

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考题 Language,culture,and personality may be considered independently（）each other in thought,but they are inseparable in fact. of

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考题共用题干 English and English Community1. There is no denying that English is a useful language.The people who speak English today make up the largest speech community in the world with the exception of speakers of Chinese. Originally they were small tribes of people from northern Europe who settled in England.Their languages became more and more similar to each other. Finally,the language had enough uni-formity to be used by all speakers in England.The people were united into a speech community through their shared language.2. A speech community is similar to other kinds of communities.The people who make up the community share a common language .Often they live side by side,as they do in a neighborhood, a village,or a city.More often they form a whole country.National boundaries,however,are not always the same as the boundaries of a speech community.A speech community is any group of people who speak the same language no matter where they happen to live.3. We may say that anyone who speaks English belongs to the English speech community.For convenience,we may classify the speakers into two groups:one in which the speakers use English as their native language,the other in which the speakers learn English as a second language for the purpose of education,commerce,and so on.4. English serves as an alternative language in several areas of public activity for many nations of the world which employ it as an international second language .English has been adopted as the language of air traffic,commerce,as well as international diplomacy .Moreover,English is the language of the majority of published materials in the world so that education has come to rely heavily on an understanding of English.5. Learning a second language extends one's vision and expands the mind.The history and litera- ture of a second language record the real and fictional lives of people and their culture;a knowl- edge of them adds to our ability to understand and to feel as they feel .Learning English as a sec- ond language provides another means of communication through which the window of the entire English speech community becomes a part of our heritage. Paragraph 3______A: The Wide Use of EnglishB: Historical Account of English and Its CommunityC: The Advantages of Learning a Second LanguageD: The Composition of the English CommunityE: The Threat That English Poses to Other LanguagesF: The Definition of a Speech Community

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考题共用题干 English and English Community1. There is no denying that English is a useful language.The people who speak English today make up the largest speech community in the world with the exception of speakers of Chinese. Originally they were small tribes of people from northern Europe who settled in England.Their languages became more and more similar to each other. Finally,the language had enough uni-formity to be used by all speakers in England.The people were united into a speech community through their shared language.2. A speech community is similar to other kinds of communities.The people who make up the community share a common language .Often they live side by side,as they do in a neighborhood, a village,or a city.More often they form a whole country.National boundaries,however,are not always the same as the boundaries of a speech community.A speech community is any group of people who speak the same language no matter where they happen to live.3. We may say that anyone who speaks English belongs to the English speech community.For convenience,we may classify the speakers into two groups:one in which the speakers use English as their native language,the other in which the speakers learn English as a second language for the purpose of education,commerce,and so on.4. English serves as an alternative language in several areas of public activity for many nations of the world which employ it as an international second language .English has been adopted as the language of air traffic,commerce,as well as international diplomacy .Moreover,English is the language of the majority of published materials in the world so that education has come to rely heavily on an understanding of English.5. Learning a second language extends one's vision and expands the mind.The history and litera- ture of a second language record the real and fictional lives of people and their culture;a knowl- edge of them adds to our ability to understand and to feel as they feel .Learning English as a sec- ond language provides another means of communication through which the window of the entire English speech community becomes a part of our heritage. The idea of the national boundaries is often different from_____.A:.that of a speech communityB: can a speech community be formedC: in order to learn English betterD: for the sake of simplicityE: has played an important role in the field of educationF: is widely used in several areas of public activity

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考题共用题干 English and English Community1. There is no denying that English is a useful language.The people who speak English today make up the largest speech community in the world with the exception of speakers of Chinese. Originally they were small tribes of people from northern Europe who settled in England.Their languages became more and more similar to each other. Finally,the language had enough uni-formity to be used by all speakers in England.The people were united into a speech community through their shared language.2. A speech community is similar to other kinds of communities.The people who make up the community share a common language .Often they live side by side,as they do in a neighborhood, a village,or a city.More often they form a whole country.National boundaries,however,are not always the same as the boundaries of a speech community.A speech community is any group of people who speak the same language no matter where they happen to live.3. We may say that anyone who speaks English belongs to the English speech community.For convenience,we may classify the speakers into two groups:one in which the speakers use English as their native language,the other in which the speakers learn English as a second language for the purpose of education,commerce,and so on.4. English serves as an alternative language in several areas of public activity for many nations of the world which employ it as an international second language .English has been adopted as the language of air traffic,commerce,as well as international diplomacy .Moreover,English is the language of the majority of published materials in the world so that education has come to rely heavily on an understanding of English.5. Learning a second language extends one's vision and expands the mind.The history and litera- ture of a second language record the real and fictional lives of people and their culture;a knowl- edge of them adds to our ability to understand and to feel as they feel .Learning English as a sec- ond language provides another means of communication through which the window of the entire English speech community becomes a part of our heritage. Speakers are classified into two groups______.A:.that of a speech communityB: can a speech community be formedC: in order to learn English betterD: for the sake of simplicityE: has played an important role in the field of educationF: is widely used in several areas of public activity

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考题共用题干 English and English Community1. There is no denying that English is a useful language.The people who speak English today make up the largest speech community in the world with the exception of speakers of Chinese. Originally they were small tribes of people from northern Europe who settled in England.Their languages became more and more similar to each other. Finally,the language had enough uni-formity to be used by all speakers in England.The people were united into a speech community through their shared language.2. A speech community is similar to other kinds of communities.The people who make up the community share a common language .Often they live side by side,as they do in a neighborhood, a village,or a city.More often they form a whole country.National boundaries,however,are not always the same as the boundaries of a speech community.A speech community is any group of people who speak the same language no matter where they happen to live.3. We may say that anyone who speaks English belongs to the English speech community.For convenience,we may classify the speakers into two groups:one in which the speakers use English as their native language,the other in which the speakers learn English as a second language for the purpose of education,commerce,and so on.4. English serves as an alternative language in several areas of public activity for many nations of the world which employ it as an international second language .English has been adopted as the language of air traffic,commerce,as well as international diplomacy .Moreover,English is the language of the majority of published materials in the world so that education has come to rely heavily on an understanding of English.5. Learning a second language extends one's vision and expands the mind.The history and litera- ture of a second language record the real and fictional lives of people and their culture;a knowl- edge of them adds to our ability to understand and to feel as they feel .Learning English as a sec- ond language provides another means of communication through which the window of the entire English speech community becomes a part of our heritage. Only through the shared language______.A:.that of a speech communityB: can a speech community be formedC: in order to learn English betterD: for the sake of simplicityE: has played an important role in the field of educationF: is widely used in several areas of public activity

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考题共用题干 The Bilingual Brain When Karl Kim immigrated to the United States from Korea as a teenager,he had a hard time learning English.Now he speaks it fluently,and he had a unique opportunity to see how our brains adapt to a second language.As a graduate student,Kim worked in the lab of Joy Hirsch,a neuroscientist in New York.______(46)They found evidence that children and adults don't use the same parts of the brain when they learn a second language. The researchers used an instrument called an MRI(magnetic resonance imaging)scanner to study the brains of two groups of bilingual people.______(47)The other consisted of people who,like Kim, learned their second language later in life.People from both groups were placed inside the MRI scanner.This allowed Kim and Hirsch to see which parts of the brain were getting more blood and were more active.They asked people from both groups to think about what they had done the day before,first in one language and then the other.They couldn't speak out loud because any movement would disrupt the scanning. Kim and Hirsch looked specifically at two language centers in the brain-Broca's area,which is believed to control speech production,and Wernicke's area,which is thought to process meaning.Kim and Hirsch found that both groups of people used the same part of Wernicke's area no matter what language they were speaking. ______(48) People who learned a second language as children used the same region in Broca's area for both their first and second languages.People who learned a second language later in life used a different part of Broca's area for their second language.______(49)Hirsch believes that when language is first being programmed in young children,their brains may mix the sounds and structures of all languages in the same area.Once that programming is complete,the processing of a new language must be taken over by a different part of the brain. A second possibility is simply that we may acquire languages differently as children than we do as adults.Hirsch thinks that mothers teach a baby to speak by using different methods involving touch'sound, and sight.______(50)______(46)A:But their use of Broca's area was different.B:One group consisted of those who had learned a second language as children.C:How does Hirsch explain this difference?D:We use special parts of the brain for language learning.E:And that is very different from learning a language in a high school or college class.F:Their work led to an important discovery.

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考题共用题干 Some Things We Know About LanguageMany things about language are a mystery,and many will always remain so.But some things we do know.First , we know that all human beings have a language of some sort.There is no race（种族）of men anywhere on earth so backward that it has no language,no set of speech sounds by which the people communicate with one another.Furthermore,in historical times,there has never been a race of men without a language. Second,there is no such thing as a primitive（原始的）language.There are many people whose cultures are undeveloped,who are,as we say,uncivilized,but the languages they speak are not primitive.In all known languages we can see complexities that must have been tens of thousands of years in developing. This has not always been well understood;indeed,the direct contrary has often been stated.Popular ideas of the language of the American Indians will illustrate.Many people have supposed that the Indians communicated in a very primitive system of noises.Study has proved this to be nonsense.There are,or were, hundreds of American Indian languages,and all of them turn out to be very complicated and very old.They are certainly different from the languages that most of us are familiar with,but they are no more primitive than English and Greek.A third thing we know about language is that all languages are perfectly adequate.That is,each one is a perfect means of expressing the culture of the people who speak the language. Finally,we know that language changes.It is natural and normal for language to change;the only languages which do not change are the dead ones.This is easy to understand if we look backward in time. Change goes on in all aspects of language.Grammatical features change as do speech sounds,and changes in vocabulary are sometimes very extensive and may occur very rapidly.Vocabulary is the least stable part of any language.The author argues that we do know some things about language in______aspects.A:three B:fourC:five D:six

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考题共用题干 Some Things We Know About LanguageMany things about language are a mystery,and many will always remain so.But some things we do know.First,we know that all human beings have a language of some sort. There is no race of men anywhere on earth so backward that it has no language,no set of speech sounds by which the people communicate with one another. Furthermore,in historical times,there has never been a race of men without a language.Second,there is no such thing as a primitive language.There are many people whose cultures are undeveloped,who are,as we say,uncivilized,but the languages they speak are not primitive .In all known languages we can see complexities that must have been tens of thousands of years in developing.This has not always been well understood;indeed,the direct contrary has often been stated.Popular ideas of the language of the American Indians will illustrate.Many people have supposed that the Indians communicated in a very primitive system of noises.Study has proved this to be nonsense .There are,or were,hundreds of American Indian languages,and all of them turn out to be very complicated and very old.They are certainly different from the languages that most of us are familiar with,but they are no more primitive than English and Greek.A third thing we know about language is that all languages are perfectly adequate. That is, each one is a perfect means of expressing the culture of the people who speak the language.Finally,we know that language changes.It is natural and normal for language to change;the only languages which do not change are the dead ones.This is easy to understand if we look backward in time.Change goes on in all aspects of language.Grammatical teatures change as do speech sounds,and changes in vocabulary are sometimes very extensive and may occur very rap-idly. Vocabulary is the least stable part of any language. According to the author,language changes are most likely to occur in______.A: grammarB: pronunciationC: vocabularyD: intonation

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考题共用题干 Some Things We Know About LanguageMany things about language are a mystery,and many will always remain so.But some things we do know.First,we know that all human beings have a language of some sort. There is no race of men anywhere on earth so backward that it has no language,no set of speech sounds by which the people communicate with one another. Furthermore,in historical times,there has never been a race of men without a language.Second,there is no such thing as a primitive language.There are many people whose cultures are undeveloped,who are,as we say,uncivilized,but the languages they speak are not primitive .In all known languages we can see complexities that must have been tens of thousands of years in developing.This has not always been well understood;indeed,the direct contrary has often been stated.Popular ideas of the language of the American Indians will illustrate.Many people have supposed that the Indians communicated in a very primitive system of noises.Study has proved this to be nonsense .There are,or were,hundreds of American Indian languages,and all of them turn out to be very complicated and very old.They are certainly different from the languages that most of us are familiar with,but they are no more primitive than English and Greek.A third thing we know about language is that all languages are perfectly adequate. That is, each one is a perfect means of expressing the culture of the people who speak the language.Finally,we know that language changes.It is natural and normal for language to change;the only languages which do not change are the dead ones.This is easy to understand if we look backward in time.Change goes on in all aspects of language.Grammatical teatures change as do speech sounds,and changes in vocabulary are sometimes very extensive and may occur very rap-idly. Vocabulary is the least stable part of any language. In the second paragraph the passage tells us that______.A: some backward race doesn't have a language of its ownB: some race in history didn't possess a language of its ownC: any human race,whether backward or not,has a languageD: some races on earth can communicate without language

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考题共用题干 Some Things We Know About LanguageMany things about language are a mystery,and many will always remain so.But some things we do know.First,we know that all human beings have a language of some sort. There is no race of men anywhere on earth so backward that it has no language,no set of speech sounds by which the people communicate with one another. Furthermore,in historical times,there has never been a race of men without a language.Second,there is no such thing as a primitive language.There are many people whose cultures are undeveloped,who are,as we say,uncivilized,but the languages they speak are not primitive .In all known languages we can see complexities that must have been tens of thousands of years in developing.This has not always been well understood;indeed,the direct contrary has often been stated.Popular ideas of the language of the American Indians will illustrate.Many people have supposed that the Indians communicated in a very primitive system of noises.Study has proved this to be nonsense .There are,or were,hundreds of American Indian languages,and all of them turn out to be very complicated and very old.They are certainly different from the languages that most of us are familiar with,but they are no more primitive than English and Greek.A third thing we know about language is that all languages are perfectly adequate. That is, each one is a perfect means of expressing the culture of the people who speak the language.Finally,we know that language changes.It is natural and normal for language to change;the only languages which do not change are the dead ones.This is easy to understand if we look backward in time.Change goes on in all aspects of language.Grammatical teatures change as do speech sounds,and changes in vocabulary are sometimes very extensive and may occur very rap-idly. Vocabulary is the least stable part of any language. Which of the following statements is CORRECT?A: A language can express many cultures.B: All languages can well express their respective cultures.C: American Indian languages are not as sophisticated as English.D: Some languages are better than other languages.

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考题 subvocal speech

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考题 Language and thought may be viewed as two independent circles overlapping in some parts. When language and thought are identical or closely parallel to each other， we may regard thought as “subvocal speech，” and speech as “（）”.Avocal thoughtBsubvocal thoughtCcovert thoughtDovert thought

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考题单选题It was such a (an) __________ when they met each other in Beijing because each thought that the other was still in Hong Kong.A occurrenceB chanceC coincidenceD occasion

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考题单选题Most educators objected to Stoke’s idea because they thought _____.A a language should be easy to use and understandB sign language was too artificial to be widely acceptedC a language could only exist in the form of speech soundsD sign language was not extensively used even by deaf people

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考题单选题Language and thought may be viewed as two independent circles overlapping in some parts. When language and thought are identical or closely parallel to each other， we may regard thought as “subvocal speech，” and speech as “（）”.A vocal thoughtB subvocal thoughtC covert thoughtD overt thought

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考题名词解释题subvocal speech

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考题单选题Language, culture, and personality may be considered _____ of each other in thought, but they are inseparable in fact.A indistinctB separateC irrelevantD independent

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考题单选题The ARPA may swap targets when automatically tracking if two targets（）A are tracked on reciprocal bearingsB are tracked at the same rangeC are tracked on the same bearingD pass closely to each other

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考题单选题Passage 2Several research teams have found that newborns prefer their mothers' voices over those of other people. Now a team of scientists has gone an intriguing step further: they have found that newborns cry in their native language."We have provided evidence that language begins with the very first cry melodies,"says Kathleen Wermke of the University of Wirzburg, Germany, who led the research."The dramatic finding of this study is that not only are newborns capable of producing different cry melodies, but they prefer to produce those melody patterns that are typical for the ambient language they have heard during their fetal life, within the last trimester,"said Wermke."Contraryto orthodox interpretations, these data support the importance of human infants' crying for seeding language development."It had been thought that babies' cries are constrained by their breathing patterns and respiratory apparatus, in which case a crying baby would sound like a crying baby no matter what the culture is, since babies are anatomically identical."The prevailing opinion used to be that newborns could not actively influence their production of sound,"says Wermke. This study refutes that claim: since babies cry in different languages, they must have some control(presumably unconscious) over what they sound like rather than being constrained by the acoustical properties of their lungs, throat, mouth, and larynx. If respiration alone dictated what a cry sounded like, all babies would cry with a falling-pitch pattern, since that's what happens as you run out of breath and air pressure on the throat's sound-making machinery decreases. French babies apparently didn't get that memo."German and French infants produce different types of cries, even though they share the same physiology,"the scientists point out."The French newborns produce ' nonphysiological' rising patterns,"showing that the sound of their cries is under their control.Although phonemes-speech sounds such as "ki"or"sh"-don't cross the abdominal barrier and reach the fetus, so-called prosodic characteristics of speech do. These are the variations in pitch, rhythm, and intensity that characterize each language. Just as newborns remember and prefer actualsongs that they heard in utero, it seems, so they remember and prefer both the sound of Mom's voice and the melodic signature of her language.The idea of the study wasn't to make the sound of a screaming baby more interesting to listeners-good luck with that-but to explore how babies acquire speech. That acquisition, it is now clear, begins months before birth, probably in the third trimester. Newborns "not only have memorized the main intonation patterns of their respective surrounding language but are also able to reproduce these patterns in their own [ sound] production,"conclude the scientists. Newborns'"cries are already tuned toward their native language", giving them a head start on sounding French or German (or, presumably, English or American or Chinese or anything else: the scientists are collecting cries from more languages). This is likely part of the explanation for how babies develop spoken language quickly and seemingly without effort. Sure, we may come into the world wired for language(thank you, Noam Chomsky), but we also benefit from the environmental exposure that tells us which language.Until this study, scientists thought that babies became capable of vocal imitation no earlier than12 weeks of age. That's when infants listening to an adult speaker producing vowels can parrot the sound. But that's the beginning of true speech. It's sort of amazing that it took this long for scientists to realize that if they want to see what sounds babies can perceive, remember, and play back, they should look at the sound babies produce best. So let the little angel cry: she's practicing to acquire language.What does Kathleen Wermke's research indicate?A Babies are unable to do vocal imitation.B Babies' cries could be their early language acquisition.C Babies start speech acquisition months after their birth.D A crying baby is a crying baby no matter what the culture is.

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考题单选题Passage 2Several research teams have found that newborns prefer their mothers' voices over those of other people. Now a team of scientists has gone an intriguing step further: they have found that newborns cry in their native language.We have provided evidence that language begins with the very first cry melodies,says Kathleen Wermke of the University of Wirzburg, Germany, who led the research.The dramatic finding of this study is that not only are newborns capable of producing different cry melodies, but they prefer to produce those melody patterns that are typical for the ambient language they have heard during their fetal life, within the last trimester,said Wermke.Contraryto orthodox interpretations, these data support the importance of human infants' crying for seeding language development.It had been thought that babies' cries are constrained by their breathing patterns and respiratory apparatus, in which case a crying baby would sound like a crying baby no matter what the culture is, since babies are anatomically identical.The prevailing opinion used to be that newborns could not actively influence their production of sound,says Wermke. This study refutes that claim: since babies cry in different languages, they must have some control(presumably unconscious) over what they sound like rather than being constrained by the acoustical properties of their lungs, throat, mouth, and larynx. If respiration alone dictated what a cry sounded like, all babies would cry with a falling-pitch pattern, since that's what happens as you run out of breath and air pressure on the throat's sound-making machinery decreases. French babies apparently didn't get that memo.German and French infants produce different types of cries, even though they share the same physiology,the scientists point out.The French newborns produce ' nonphysiological' rising patterns,showing that the sound of their cries is under their control.Although phonemes-speech sounds such as kiorsh-don't cross the abdominal barrier and reach the fetus, so-called prosodic characteristics of speech do. These are the variations in pitch, rhythm, and intensity that characterize each language. Just as newborns remember and prefer actualsongs that they heard in utero, it seems, so they remember and prefer both the sound of Mom's voice and the melodic signature of her language.The idea of the study wasn't to make the sound of a screaming baby more interesting to listeners-good luck with that-but to explore how babies acquire speech. That acquisition, it is now clear, begins months before birth, probably in the third trimester. Newborns not only have memorized the main intonation patterns of their respective surrounding language but are also able to reproduce these patterns in their own [ sound] production,conclude the scientists. Newborns'cries are already tuned toward their native language, giving them a head start on sounding French or German (or, presumably, English or American or Chinese or anything else: the scientists are collecting cries from more languages). This is likely part of the explanation for how babies develop spoken language quickly and seemingly without effort. Sure, we may come into the world wired for language(thank you, Noam Chomsky), but we also benefit from the environmental exposure that tells us which language.Until this study, scientists thought that babies became capable of vocal imitation no earlier than12 weeks of age. That's when infants listening to an adult speaker producing vowels can parrot the sound. But that's the beginning of true speech. It's sort of amazing that it took this long for scientists to realize that if they want to see what sounds babies can perceive, remember, and play back, they should look at the sound babies produce best. So let the little angel cry: she's practicing to acquire language.What can be inferred from the last paragraph？A Babies'cries have long been the concerns of scientists.B Babies start their speech acquisition at the age of three months.C Studying babies'cries helps us understand their speech perception.D Babies'true speech，rather than their cries，should be the focus of study.

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