Question

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项。

The 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.

1.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

2.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 babes interest.

3.Where does this text probably come from?

A. Science fiction     B. Children’s literature

C. An advertisement     D. A science report

Answer

1.D

2.C

3.D

【解析】

试题分析：本文属于科学研究类的短文，研究婴儿对于外界声音和变化的反应。科学家在实验中使用了不同的刺激物对婴儿进行刺激以证明研究的准确性。

1.D 细节题。根据第一段后4行As the cards change from one to the other, her gave（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.可知当眼前黑点变成3个的时候，孩子的注意力又恢复了。故D项正确。

2.C 推理题。根据文章最后三行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. 可知使用敲鼓的声音来进行试验，就是为了更进一步了解具体情况。故C正确。

3.D 推理题。本文属于科学研究类的短文，研究婴儿对于外界声音和变化的反应。所以最可能是从科学报告里摘录出来的内容。故D正确。