It is, everyone agrees, a huge task that the child performs when he learns to speak, and the fact that he does so in so short a period of time challenges explanation.
Language learning begins with listening. Individual children vary greatly in the amount of listening they do before they start speaking and late starters are often long listeners. Most children will “obey” spoken instructions some time before they can speak, though the word obey is hardly accurate (精确) as a description of the eager and happy cooperation usually shown by the child. Before they can speak, many children will also ask questions by gestures and by making questioning noises.
Any attempt to trace (探察) the development from the noises babies make to their first spoken words leads to considerable difficulties. It is agreed that they enjoy making noises and that during the first few months one or two noises sort themselves out to show joy, sadness, and so on. But since these cannot be said to show the baby’s intention to communicate, they can hardly be regarded as early forms of language. It is agreed, too, that from about three months they play with sounds for enjoyment, and that by six months they are able to add new sounds. This self-imitation (自我模仿) leads on to imitation of sounds made or words spoken to them by other people. The problem then arises as to the point at which one can say that these imitations can be considered as a speech.
1．The third paragraph is mainly about ____
A．the development of babies’ early forms of language
B．the difficulties of babies in learning to speak
C．babies’ strong desire to communicate
D．babies’ intention to communicate
2．The author’s purpose in writing the second paragraph is to show that children ____.
A．usually obey without asking questions
B．are not active in the process of learning to speak
C．are born cooperative
D．learn to speak by listening
3．From the passage we learn that ____.
A．early starters can learn to speak within only six months
B．children show a strong desire to communicate by making noises
C．imitation plays an important role in learning to speak
D．children have various difficulties in learning to speak
4．The best title for this passage would be ____.
A．How Babies Learn to Speak    B．Early Forms of Language
C．A Huge Task for Children       D．Noise Making and Language Learning