Question

What we know of pre­birth training makes all this attempt made by a mother to influence the character of her unborn child by studying poetry, art, or mathematics during pregnancy seem totally impossible. How could such extremely complex influences pass from the mother to the child？There is no connection between their nervous systems. Even the blood vessels of mother and child do not join directly. An emotional shock to the mother will affect her child, because it changes the activity of her glands(腺) and the chemistry of her blood. Any chemical change in the mother's blood will affect the child for better or worse. But we cannot see how a looking for mathematics or poetic genius can be dissolved(溶解) in blood and produce a similar liking or genius in the child.

In our discussion of instincts(本能) we saw that there was reason to believe that whatever we inherit(继承) must be of some very simple sort rather than any complicated or very definite kind of behavior. It is certain that no one inherits a knowledge of mathematics. It may be, however, that children inherit more or less of a rather general ability that we may call intelligence. If very intelligent children become deeply interested in mathematics, they will probably make a success of that study.

As for musical ability, it may be that what is inherited is an especially sensitive ear, a special structure of the hands or the vocal(发声的) organs connections between nerves and muscles. If these factors are all organized around music, the child may become a musician. The same factors, in other circumstance, might be organized about some other center of interest.

The rich emotional equipment might find expression in poetry. The capable fingers might develop skill in surgery. It is not the knowledge of music that is inherited, then nor even the love of it, but a certain bodily structure that makes it comparatively easy to acquire musical knowledge and skill. Whether that ability shall be directed toward music or some other fields may be decided entirely by forces in the environment in which a child grows up.

1.What can we learn from the first paragraph？

A. A mother can't help her child become a talented poet just by studying poems during pregnancy.

B. A pregnant mother needn't have pre­birth training because of no nervous connection with her child.

C. Mothers' pre­birth training is totally unlikely to influence the character of unborn children.

D. An emotional shock to the mother has little effect on her unborn child for their unconnected vessels.

2.It can be concluded from the passage that a child may not inherit   from mother.

A. sensitive ears    B. capable fingers    C. a knowledge of maths    D. intelligence

3.Which of the following can be the best title of the passage？

A. Inherited Talents    B. Role of the Environment    C. An Unborn Child    D. Role of Inheritance

Answer

1. A

2. C

3. D

【解析】

本文为议论文。文章论述了遗传在一个人的发展中所能起到作用。

1.细节理解题。根据第一段中的What we know of pre­birth training makes all this attempt made by a mother to influence the character of her unborn child by studying poetry, art, or mathematics during pregnancy seem totally impossible.可知，孕妇在怀孕期间想要通过学习诗歌、艺术或数学来影响她们未出生孩子的性格好像是完全不可能的。A项“母亲不能仅仅通过在怀孕期间学习诗歌来帮助孩子成为一个有才华的诗人”与文章内容相符。故A选项正确。

2.细节理解题。根据第二段中的It is certain that no one inherits a knowledge of mathematics.可知，毫无疑问，没有人继承数学知识。故C选项正确。

3.标题判断题。通读全文可知，文章主要论述了孩子能从母亲那里遗传到什么、能遗传到什么，这些遗传下来的东西对一个人的发展又起到了什么样的作用。由此可知，D项“遗传的作用”适合做本文最佳标题。故D选项正确。