Question

阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

We are often told to pay attention to 1. our mothers tell us. Most of us enjoy listening to our mothers speaking. Scientists have found that our brains greatly prefer the voices of our own mothers to 2. of other people.

Scientists at the Stanford University, in the United States, recently looked into this. They scanned (扫描) children’s brains while they 3. (listen) to different sounds, including their mothers’ voices. They found that 97 percent of the time, children could recognize their mothers’ voices at once.

4. (hear) their mothers’ voices makes children’s brains more active. We 5. (usual) just use one part of our brain to deal with sounds when we hear something. But when we hear our mothers’ voices, many parts of the brain, including those in charge of reward and emotion, start to work as well.

Why do we respond so strongly 6. our mothers’ voices? It starts even before we’re born. When children are still in the womb (子宫) or have just been born, they hear their mothers talking. This makes babies feel 7. (comfort) and teaches them language and social skills, even though they are still very young. The babies learn to recognize their mothers’ voices as a rewarding sound. Later, when this sound is heard again, more attention 8. (pay) to it.

Some sounds are necessary for our 9. (survive) while others bring us pleasure. Both types are recognized by our brains as rewarding sounds. Most human voices are not recognized in this way, since we hear them so often. 10., mothers’ voices are different, as they bring us a lot of comfort.

Answer

1.what

2.those

3.were listening/listened

4.Hearing

5.usually

6.to

7.comfortable

8.is paid

9.survival

10.However

【解析】

这是一篇说明文。 科学家发现我们的大脑更喜欢自己母亲的声音，而不是其他人的声音。

1.考查宾语从句。 句意：我们经常被告知要注意母亲告诉我们的话。句中pay attention to“注意”，其中to是介词。分析句子结构可知，介词to后的内容为宾语从句，根据从句句意：我们的妈妈告诉我们的（话），缺少宾语。结合宾语从句的用法，选用what。故填what。

2.考查代词。句意：科学家发现我们的大脑更喜欢自己母亲的声音，而不是其他人的声音。句中prefer…to…“喜欢……多于……”，句子前半部分，我们的大脑更喜欢自己母亲的声音，比较发现，后半句讲的就是其他人的声音。代词those指的就是声音。故填those。

3.考查时态。句意：他们（科学家们）扫描了孩子们的大脑当孩子们在听不同的声音的时候。本句中。主句用的是一般过去时，所以从句也应该用一般过去时；从句用到了while，表示“在……期间”，因而从句也可以用进行时。综上所述，空白处可以填一般过去时或过去进行时均可。故填were listening/listened。

4.考查动名词做主语。句意：当听到妈妈的声音时会让孩子的大脑更加活跃。分析句子可知，此处缺少主语。动名词做主语时，表示经常性或习惯性动作，所以用动名词。因为置于句首，首字母要大写。故填Hearing。

5.考查副词。句意：我们通常只用大脑的一部分，来处理听到的声音。根据词汇知识，副词常用语修饰动词，本句中usual置于use之前，所以要用副词。故填usually。

6.考查介词。句意：为什么我们对母亲的声音反应如此强烈？固定搭配respond to sb./sth/“回答，回应”，其中to 为介词。故填to。

7.考查形容词。句意：即使他们还很小，这（妈妈的说话声）让婴儿感到舒适，教他们语言和社交技能。句中feel为系动词，其后常跟形容词做表语。comfort为名词，其形容词形式是comfortable，故填comfortable。

8.考查一般现在时的被动语态。句意：随后，当这个声音再次被听到时，人们就会更加注意它。分析句子结构可知，从句的时态为一般现在时，因而主句的时态要和从句一致；固定短语pay attention to“注意…”，attention为pay 的宾语，所以语态上要用被动语态。故填is paid。

9.考查名词。句意：有些声音对我们的生存是必要的，而有些声音给我们带来快乐。空白处的前面用到了our，是物主代词，做形容词的作用，形容词用在名词前作定语，所以此处要用名词。故填survival。

10.考查副词。句意：然而，母亲的声音是不同的，因为他们给我们带来了很多安慰。结合理解前一句：大多数人类的声音不是这样被识别的，因为我们经常听到它们；此处讲到了妈妈的声音，与前一句的关系为转折关系，所以用however，由于置于句首，所以首字母要大写。故填However。