Question

They baby is just one day old and has not yet left hospital. She is quiet but alert (警觉). Twenty centimeters from her face researchers have placed a white card with two black spots on it. She stares at it carefully. A researcher removes the card and replaces it by another, this time with the spots differently spaced. As the cards change from one to the other, her gaze(凝视) starts to lose its focus - until a third, with three black spots, is presented. Her gaze returns; she looks at it for twice as long as she did at the previous card. Can she tell that the number two is different from three, just 24 hours after coming into the world?

Or do newborns simply prefer more to fewer? The same experiment, but with three spots shown before two, shows the same return of interest when the number of spots changes. Perhaps it is just the newness? When slightly older babies were shown cards with pictures of objects(a comb, a key, an orange and so on), changing the number of objects had an effect separate from changing the objects themselves. Could it be the pattern that two things make, as opposed to three? No again. Babies paid more attention to squares moving randomly on a screen when their number changed from two to three, or three to two. The effect even crosses between senses. Babies who were repeatedly shown two spots became more excited when they then heard three drumbeats than when they heard just two; likewise(同样地) when the researchers started with drumbeats and moved to spots.

60. The experiment described in Paragraph 1 is related to the baby’s ______.

A. sense of hearing.

B. sense of sight.

C. sense of touch.

D. sense of smell.

61. Babies are sensitive to the change in ______.

A. the size of cards.

B. the colour of pictures.

C. the shape of patterns.

D. the number of objects.

62. Why did the researchers test the babies with drumbeats?

A. To reduce the difficulty of the experiment.

B. To see how babies recognize sounds.

C. To carry their experiment further.

D. To keep the babies’ interest.

63. Where does this text probably come from?

A. Science fiction.

B. Children’s literature.

C. An advertisement.

D. A science report.

Answer 1

【语篇解读】本篇是一篇说明文。文章对刚出生一天的婴儿做实验，通过变化纸上的黑点及鼓的敲打次数对婴儿的视觉、听觉进行的一个实验。

段落	关键词、句	大意推测
第一部分（Para. 1）	A white card with two……stares it carefully Remove the card and replace it……lose its focus with three black spots……Her gaze returns.	对初生婴儿做实验，通过对卡片上黑点的变化，看新生儿的反应。
第二部分（Para. 2）	The same experment...shows the same return..... No again. Babies pay more attention to ......	根据实验所得婴儿的反应情况进行分析。

60. B。推理判断题。难度：较易。根据第一段文中的句子She stares it carefully. Her gaze starts to lose its focus.可知，本段是对孩子的视觉实验。

61. C。事实细节题。难度：较大。此题有很多干扰信息，所以容易误选。Babies pay more attention to squares moving randomly on a screen when their number changed from two to three,or three to two.可知，答案选C。

62.C。推理判断题。难度：中等。题干核心词drumbeats, 根据文章第一段得知对孩子的视力进行试验，接下来用鼓来对孩子的听力继续试验。所以答案选择C。

63．D。推理判断题。难度：较易。纵观文章，这是一篇试验报告，所以答案选D。

【难句学习】：

1.She looks at it for twice as long as it did at the previous card.

翻译：她再次看这个图片就想看先前那张图片时间一样长。

分析：as it did ,此处的did,即前半句的look的过去式look。注意动词的替代用法。

2. The same experiment, but with three spots shown before two, shows the same return of interest when the number of spots changes.

翻译: 但是，在两个点之前先给孩子看三个点，同样实验显示孩子对点的数量变化一样返回兴趣。

分析：本句中用了两个逗号作为插入成分。句子结构：The same experiment shows the same return of interest……

3. Babies who were repeatedly shown two spots became more excited when they then heard three drumbeats than when they heard just two……

翻译：那些多次被给两个黑点的孩子，当他们听到三声鼓声的时候比听到两声鼓声更兴奋。

分析：本句用了who 引导定语从句，修饰先行词babies。另外，本句结构注意：more excited when……than when……