It's not just adults who have a thing or two to discuss with other people, babies too have their own social lives and enjoy group interaction, according to a world-first study.
The breakthrough study conducted by psychologist Professor Ben Bradley, at Charles Sturt University, could pletely transform the way child-care centers are set up. In their study, the researchers examined groups of nine-month-old babies in new South Wales and Britain.
And they came across astonishing results—it was found that infants had “social brains” and focused not just on their mothers but on social 1ife in groups as well,
“They municate with more than one baby at once，and show jealousy and generousness，”said Professor Bradley．
He added，“They develop their own meanings through group interaction，they notice if a group member is behaving differently and they take on roles，such as leaders and followers．”
“A baby who has a depressed mother tends to be withdrawn(内向的)，but put that same baby in a group of its peers(同龄人)and they behave and interact like any other baby．”
It was the first all-baby group study ever to be conducted．“Most studies of babies concentrate on the infant-mother relationship，assuming that is the single foundation for mental health．but babies are constantly involved with groups of people other than their mothers：fathers，siblings，grandparents and those taking care．Therefore。the ‘mother-baby approach’ needs to be bined with a‘ group approach’．”said Bradley．
Phoebe Christison ，a child-care worker at Camperdown Sunshine Bubs in Sydney’s inner west．said she often noticed what appeared．to be emotional attachments developed between toddlers．
She said，“Joel(10 months)and Isabella (11months)always like to hold hands when they sit in their high chairs and eat．And babies definitely show jealousy．They push and touch each other，and copy what the other is doing．”
【小题1】A baby who has a depressed mother ．A．tends to be a followerB．also enjoys group interactionC．has poor social abilityD．pays more attention to its mother【小题2】What can be inferred from the result of this study?A．Babies are affected by groups more than by their mothers．B．There’s no need of child-care centers at a11．C． Adults should include babies when having social activities．D．The normal infant-mother bond alone isn’t enough for the good mental health for babies．【小题3】The underlined word “toddlers” in Para．8 can be replaced by A．adultsB．infantsC．peersD．groups【小题4】The example given in the last paragraph proves that a baby .A．is born to be friendly to other babiesB．has interest in peers as well as in its motherC．may have emotional attachments to another babyD．shows jealousy and generousness as an adultB
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(答案→)B
解析：本文讲述了在孩子的精神健康方面，影响的因素较多，不仅仅是母亲和婴儿之间。
【小题1】B 推理题。根据文章第6段A baby who has a depressed mother tends to be withdrawn(内向的)，but put that same baby in a group of its peers(同龄人)and they behave and interact like any other baby．说明这样的孩子在同龄人里他们的行为也会很外向，故B正确。
【小题2】D 推断题。根据文章倒数第三段“Most studies of babies concentrate on the infant-mother relationship，assuming that is the single foundation for mental health．but babies are constantly involved with groups of people other than their mothers：fathers，siblings，grandparents and those taking care．Therefore。the ‘mother-baby approach’ needs to be bined with a‘ group approach’说明这样的单独的研究孩子和母亲的关系是不完全的，各种联系都对孩子的精神健康有好处。故D正确。
【小题3】B 推理题。根据本句she often noticed what appeared．to be emotional attachments developed between toddlers．这个人又是护理中心的人，那么她注意到的小孩之间的情感联系，故B正确。
【小题4】C 推理题。在最后一段中列举了Joel(10 months)and Isabella (11months)的例子就是为了证明to be emotional attachments developed between toddlers．孩子们之间的情感联系。故C正确。