How does it happen that children learn their mother tongue so well? When we compare them with adults learning a foreign language, we often find this interesting fact. A little child without knowledge or experience often succeeds in a complete mastery of the language. A grown-up person with fully developed mental powers, in most cases, may end up with a faulty and inexact command. What accounts for this difference?
Despite other explanations, the real answer in my opinion lies partly in the child himself, partly in the behavior of the people around him. In the first place, the time of learning the mother tongue is the most favorable of all, namely, the first years of life. A child hears it spoken from morning till night and, what is more important, always in its genuine form, with the right pronunciation, right intonation, and right use of words and right structure. He drinks in all the words and expressions, which come to him in a flash, ever-bubbling spring. There is no resistance: there is perfect assimilation.
Then the child has, as it were, private lessons all the year round, while an adult language-student has each week a limited number of hours, which he generally shares with others. The child has another advantage: he hears the language in all possible situations, always accompanied by the right kind of gestures and facial expressions. Here there is nothing unnatural, such as is often found in language lessons in schools, when one talks about ice and snow in June or scorching heat in January. And what a child hears is generally what immediately interests him. Again and again, when his attempts at speech are successful, his desires are understood and fulfilled.
Finally, though a child's "teachers" may not have been trained in language teaching, their relations with him are always close and personal. They take great pains to make their lessons easy.
1. Compared with adults learning a foreign language, children learn their native language with ease.
A. Right
B. Wrong
C. Not mentioned
2. Adults' knowledge and mental powers hinder their complete mastery of a foreign language.
A. Right
B. Wrong
C. Not mentioned
3. The reason why children learn their mother tongue so well lies solely in their environment of learning.
A. Right
B. Wrong
C. Not mentioned
4. Plenty of practice in listening during the first years of life partly ensures children's success of learning their mother tongue.
A. Right
B. Wrong
C. Not mentioned
5. A child learning his native language has the advantage of having private lessons all the year round.
A. Right
B. Wrong
C. Not mentioned
6. Gestures and facial expressions may assist a child in mastering his native language.
A. Right
B. Wrong
C. Not mentioned
7. So far as language teaching is concerned, the teacher's close personal relationship with the student is more important than the professional language teaching training he has received.
A. Right
B. Wrong
C. Not mentioned
[词汇提示]
explanation n. 解释
[高频考点]
考点1:推断能力;
考点2:指示代词指代的内容。
[主旨大意]
第一段主要说小孩子学习母语比成年人学习外语更容易,学得更好。
第二段主要说作者认为孩子母语学得如此之好的原因。
第三段主要说孩子学习母语的其他优势。
第四段主要说“老师”在孩子学习母语中的作用。
[长难句结构解析]
1. Despite other explanations, the real answer in my opinion lies partly in the child himself, partly in the behavior of the people around him.
(1)despite引导的是一个让步状语从句。
(2)partly是一个副词,意为“在一定程度上”。
(3)词组in the behavior of the people是一个介词词组,意为“在于人们的行为”。
(4)参考译文:尽管还有其他的解释,但是在我看来,真正的答案一定程度上是这个孩子本身,一定程度上是他周围人们的行为。
2. A child hears it spoken from morning till night and, what is more important, always in its genuine form, with the right pronunciation, right intonation, and right use of words and right structure.
(1)it在这里指的是mother tongue,而spoken是一个非谓语动词,修饰it,spoken是it的谓语动词,用的是被动语态,表示的是it被他周围的人从早到晚地说。
(2)what is more important是一个插入语,表示递进。
(3)参考译文:儿童从早到晚听到人们讲母语,更重要的是,听到的总是地道的母语:发音正确、语调自然、遣词造句准确。
[答案解析]
1.A。[解析]题干大意:与学习外语的成年人相比,儿童学习母语很容易。该问题是考查考生对事实的判断。利用答案线索词adults和children,我们很快在第一段首句中发现children,而在随后的一句中发现adults。研究这两句话的语意:前一句提到为什么孩子学母语学得这么好;后一句接着提到当我们把孩子和学习外语的成年人比较时,我们发现了这个有趣的事实。依据这两句判断题干实际上是对原文这两个句子的总结说明。
2.C。[解析]题干大意:成年人的知识和智力阻碍了他们对外语的掌握。该问题也是考查考生对事实的判断。利用答案线索词mental powers,我们很快在第一段的第四句中发现mental powers,该句提到在大多数情况下,智力充分发展的成年人对外语的掌握是错误的和不准确的。但原文中并没提及“成年人的知识与智力和学习外语之间有何关系”,故答案为C。
3.B。[解析]题干大意:儿童母语学得好只是因为他们的学习环境。该问题也是考查考生对事实的判断。该问题句的说法太绝对,故判断答案为B。
4.A。[解析]题干大意:早年大量的听力练习是儿童成功地学习母语的一个原因。利用答案线索词the first years of life我们很快在第二段的第二句中发现相关句。该句提到早年学习母语的时间是最有益的。接下来的一句突出地说明了儿童期听力练习的形式。故答案为A。
5.B。[解析]题干大意:儿童学习母语的优势是可以常年上私人辅导课。借助常识可判断该句的说法不正确。利用答案线索词all the year round我们很快在第三段的第一句中发现直接相关句。比较原句和问题句的结构,发现不同之处在于as it were的结构。as it were:仿佛是。故答案为B。
6.A。[解析]题干大意:手势和面部表情可能会对儿童掌握母语有帮助。利用答案线索词Gestures and facial expressions我们很快在第三段的第二句中发现直接相关句。故答案为A。
7.C。[解析]题干大意:就语言教学而言,教师与学生的亲密关系比教师接受的专门培训更重要。答案线索词为teachers。文章的最后一段提到了“教师”,但只是提到教师与学生的关系是亲密的,而问题句的说法并不与原文矛盾,故答案为C。