They may be small and not able to speak, but babies are proving their amazing cleverness. Scientists began finding infants’ skills are more than they are supposed to be.

_________

Speaking of music, babies can’t seem to resist it. Not only are their ears turned to the beats, babies can actually dance to the music.

To test babies’ dancing ability, the researchers played recordings of classical music, rhythmic beats and speech to infants, and recorded the results. They also invited professional dancers to analyze how well the babies matched their movements to the music. The babies moved their arms, hands, legs feet and heads in response to the music, much more than to the speech. The finding suggests this dancing ability is innate(与生俱来的) in humans, though the researchers aren’t sure why it becomes weaker later in their life.

Learning Quickly while Sleeping

Babies can learn even while asleep, according to a 2011 study. In experiments with 26 sleeping infants, each just 1 to 2 days old, scientists played a musical tone followed by a puff of air to their eyes 200 times over the course of a half-hour. 124 electrodes(电极) stuck on the head and face of each baby recorded brain activity during the experiments. The babies rapidly learned to foretell a puff of air upon hearing the tone, showing a four-time increase on average in the chances of tightening their eyelids in response to the sound by the end of the experiments.

As newborns spend most of their time asleep, this newfound ability might be crucial to rapidly adapting to the world around them and help to ensure their survival, researchers said.

Judging Characters Well

Judging another person helpful or harmful is crucial when choosing friends. And that ability starts early. Kiley Hamlin of Yale University showed both 6-and 10-month-olds a puppet(木偶) show, in which one character helped another climb a hill. In another scene a third character pushed the climber down. The little ones then got to choose which character they preferred. For both age groups, most babies chose the helper character. This character-judging ability could be baby’s first step in the formation of morals, Hamlin thought.

1.Which of the following subtitles can fill in the underlined blank?

A．Dancing to Music

B．Babies’ Amazing Abilities

C．Learning to Dance Quickly

D．Born to Dance

2.The underlined word “it” in the third paragraph refers to______.

A．the finding

B．the dancing ability

C．the response

D．the baby

3.The experiment with 26 sleeping infants prove that_______.

A．babies can learn even while asleep

B．babies can respond to the world around them

C．babies can tighten their eyelids in response to the sound

D．babies can communicate with others while asleep

4.In the last experiment, most babies chose the helper character, showing that________.

A．babies can judge a person helpful or harmful

B．babies love to see a puppet show

C．babies were born to help others

D．babes have learned to help others

 

They may be small and not able to speak, but babies are proving their amazing cleverness. Scientists began finding infants’ skills are more than they are supposed to be.
_________
Speaking of music, babies can’t seem to resist it. Not only are their ears turned to the beats, babies can actually dance to the music.
To test babies’ dancing ability, the researchers played recordings of classical music, rhythmic beats and speech to infants, and recorded the results. They also invited professional dancers to analyze how well the babies matched their movements to the music. The babies moved their arms, hands, legs feet and heads in response to the music, much more than to the speech. The finding suggests this dancing ability is innate(与生俱来的) in humans, though the researchers aren’t sure why it becomes weaker later in their life.
Learning Quickly while Sleeping
Babies can learn even while asleep, according to a 2011 study. In experiments with 26 sleeping infants, each just 1 to 2 days old, scientists played a musical tone followed by a puff of air to their eyes 200 times over the course of a half-hour. 124 electrodes(电极) stuck on the head and face of each baby recorded brain activity during the experiments. The babies rapidly learned to foretell a puff of air upon hearing the tone, showing a four-time increase on average in the chances of tightening their eyelids in response to the sound by the end of the experiments.
As newborns spend most of their time asleep, this newfound ability might be crucial to rapidly adapting to the world around them and help to ensure their survival, researchers said.
Judging Characters Well
Judging another person helpful or harmful is crucial when choosing friends. And that ability starts early. Kiley Hamlin of Yale University showed both 6-and 10-month-olds a puppet(木偶) show, in which one character helped another climb a hill. In another scene a third character pushed the climber down. The little ones then got to choose which character they preferred. For both age groups, most babies chose the helper character. This character-judging ability could be baby’s first step in the formation of morals, Hamlin thought.
【小题1】Which of the following subtitles can fill in the underlined blank?

A．Dancing to Music	B．Babies’ Amazing Abilities
C．Learning to Dance Quickly	D．Born to Dance

【小题2】The underlined word “it” in the third paragraph refers to______.

A．the finding	B．the dancing ability
C．the response	D．the baby

【小题3】The experiment with 26 sleeping infants prove that_______.

A．babies can learn even while asleep

B．babies can respond to the world around them

C．babies can tighten their eyelids in response to the sound

D．babies can communicate with others while asleep

【小题4】In the last experiment, most babies chose the helper character, showing that________.

A．babies can judge a person helpful or harmful

B．babies love to see a puppet show

C．babies were born to help others

D．babes have learned to help others

Visitors can find a small, old house called the O. Henry Museum in central Austin, Texas. William Sydney Porter(1862-1910)----better known as O. Henry, was one of America’s best loved writers of short stories. Beginning in 1893, he lived here. It was saved from destruction, moved, and turned into a museum in 1934. The museum is a good way to learn about the interesting life of him.
William Porter rented this house and lived with his wife and daughter for about two years. Many objects in the museum belonged to the Porters. Others did not, but are in the house to recreate the way it looked during their lifetime.
Porter worked at a pharmacy, farm, land office and bank. He also loved words and writing. The museum has special proof of Porter’s love of language---his dictionary. It’s said that he read every word in it. Porter started a small publication called “The Rolling Stone”. He wasn’t being published early on, so he published himself. His funny stories, poems, and drawings were published in the magazine. But it was too costly to continue for long, so he closed the project after about one year.
Other troubles would lead the Porters to leave Austin. Porter was accused of financial wrongdoing at the bank and lost his job. Fearing a trial, he fled the country. But he returned because his wife was dying. After her death, he faced trial and was found guilty. He served three and a half years in a federal prison in Ohio.
Porter would keep his time in prison a secret. But there was one good thing about it. It provided him with time to write. By the time of his release, he had published 14 stories and was becoming well-known as O. Henry.
Porter would later move to New York City and find great success there. He published over 380 stories in the last eight years of his life.
【小题1】What is the author’s purpose of writing paragraph 3?

A．To attract more visitors to the O. Henry Museum.

B．To show the jobs O. Henry once did.

C．To show O. Henry’s early love of words and writing.

D．To introduce O. Henry’s publication called “The Rolling Stone”.

【小题2】Which of the following shows the right order of O. Henry?
a. He was committed to prison.
b. He settled down in central Austin.
c. His wife died.
d. He started a small publication called “The Rolling Stone”.
e. He moved to New York City.

A．bdcae

B．bcade

C．bdcea

D．bacde

【小题3】What can be inferred from the passage?

A．Most of O. Henry’s short stories were finished in prison.

B．O. Henry didn’t start his career as a successful writer when living in central Austin.

C．O. Henry was born in a small, old house which is called the O. Henry Museum now.

D．O. Henry spent his last life in the small, old house in Texas.

【小题4】What does the author want to tell us in the passage?

A．O. Henry’s experience in prison.

B．The objects in the O. Henry’s Museum

C．O. Henry’s achievement in literature.

D．A brief account of O. Henry’s life

They may be small and not able to speak, but babies are proving their amazing cleverness. Scientists began finding infants’ skills are more than they are supposed to be.
_________
Speaking of music, babies can’t seem to resist it. Not only are their ears turned to the beats, babies can actually dance to the music.
To test babies’ dancing ability, the researchers played recordings of classical music, rhythmic beats and speech to infants, and recorded the results. They also invited professional dancers to analyze how well the babies matched their movements to the music. The babies moved their arms, hands, legs feet and heads in response to the music, much more than to the speech. The finding suggests this dancing ability is innate(与生俱来的) in humans, though the researchers aren’t sure why it becomes weaker later in their life.
Learning Quickly while Sleeping
Babies can learn even while asleep, according to a 2011 study. In experiments with 26 sleeping infants, each just 1 to 2 days old, scientists played a musical tone followed by a puff of air to their eyes 200 times over the course of a half-hour. 124 electrodes(电极) stuck on the head and face of each baby recorded brain activity during the experiments. The babies rapidly learned to foretell a puff of air upon hearing the tone, showing a four-time increase on average in the chances of tightening their eyelids in response to the sound by the end of the experiments.
As newborns spend most of their time asleep, this newfound ability might be crucial to rapidly adapting to the world around them and help to ensure their survival, researchers said.
Judging Characters Well
Judging another person helpful or harmful is crucial when choosing friends. And that ability starts early. Kiley Hamlin of Yale University showed both 6-and 10-month-olds a puppet(木偶) show, in which one character helped another climb a hill. In another scene a third character pushed the climber down. The little ones then got to choose which character they preferred. For both age groups, most babies chose the helper character. This character-judging ability could be baby’s first step in the formation of morals, Hamlin thought.
【小题1】Which of the following subtitles can fill in the underlined blank?

A．Dancing to Music

B．Babies’ Amazing Abilities

C．Learning to Dance Quickly

D．Born to Dance

【小题2】The underlined word “it” in the third paragraph refers to______.

A．the finding

B．the dancing ability

C．the response

D．the baby

【小题3】The experiment with 26 sleeping infants prove that_______.

A．babies can learn even while asleep

B．babies can respond to the world around them

C．babies can tighten their eyelids in response to the sound

D．babies can communicate with others while asleep

【小题4】In the last experiment, most babies chose the helper character, showing that________.

A．babies can judge a person helpful or harmful

B．babies love to see a puppet show

C．babies were born to help others

D．babes have learned to help others