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, pared with that of the monkey, is the plex 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.
【小题1】Frederick’s experiment was extreme because . A．he wanted to prove children are born with ability to speakB．he wanted his nurses to say another language C．he was unkind to the nursesD．he ignored the importance of mothering to the babies【小题2】The reason that some children are backward in speaking is most likely that .A．they do not listen carefully to their mothersB．their mothers do not respond to their attempts to speak C．their brain has to absorb too much language at onceD．their mothers are not intelligent enough to help them【小题3】In paragraph 3, by “critical times” the author means .A．difficult periods in the child’s lifeB．moments when the child bees critical towards its motherC．important stages in the child’s development D．times when mothers often neglect their children【小题4】If a child starts to speak later than others, he will in future.A．have a high IQB．be less intelligentC．not necessarily be backwardD．be insensitive to verbal signals【小题5】If the mother seldom responds to her child’s signals, .A．the child will be able to speak properlyB．the child will continue to give out signalsC．the child will invent a language of ownD．the child will make little effort to speakD
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(答案→)D
解析：本文介绍了母亲在孩子的语言学习中的重要作用，如果没有了母亲的存在和对孩子的教育，孩子在学习语言方面可能就会存在着很多的困难。
【小题1】D 细节题。根据文章第一段Hoping to discover what language a child would speak if he heard no mother tongue he told the nurses to keep silent.可知他忽视了对孩子来说母亲照顾的重要性。故D正确。
【小题2】B 推理题。根据文章第二段5,6,7行. 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.可知主要原因就是因为母亲对孩子的回应不够敏感导致了这种情况的出现。故B正确。
【小题3】C 推理题。根据本句There are critical times, it seems when children learn more rapidly.可知照顾时间就是孩子学习最为迅速的时间，也是对孩子来说最重要的时间。故C正确。
【小题4】C 推理题。根据文章倒数第三段there are cases where speech has started late in a child who eventually turns out to be of high IQ.可知有一些例子来说明那些开始的比较晚的人最后也可能有很高的智商，说明C项内容正确。
【小题5】D 推理题。根据文章倒数第四段最后If these sensitive periods are neglected, the ideal time for acquiring skills passes and they might never be learned so easily again.可知如果如果母亲对孩子的回应不够，孩子学习知识可能就会变的困难。故D正确。