Languagelearningbeginswithlistening.Childrenaregreatlydifferentintheamountoflisteningtheydobeforetheystartspeaking,andlaterstartersareoftenlonglisteners.Mostchildrenwill“obey”spokeninstructionssometimebeforetheycanspeak,thoughtheword“obey”ishardlyaccurateasadescriptionoftheeageranddelightedcooperationusuallyshownbythechild.Beforetheycanspeak,manychildrenwillalsoaskquestionsbygestureandbymakingquestioningnoises.Anyattempttostudythedevelopmentfromthenoisesbabiesmaketotheirfirstspokenwordsleadstoconsiderabledifficulties.Itisagreedthattheyenjoymakingnoises,andthatduringthefirstfewmonthsoneortwonoisessortthemselvesasparticularlyexpressiveasdelight,pain,friendliness,andsoon.Butsincethesecan’tbesaidtoshowthebaby’sintentiontocommunicate,theycanhardlyberegardedasearlyformsoflanguage.Itisagreed,too,thatfromaboutthreemonthstheyplaywithsoundsforenjoyment,andthatbysixmonthstheyareabletoaddnewwordstotheirstore.Thisself-imitation（模仿）leadsontodeliberate（有意的）imitationofsoundsmadeorwordsspokentothembyotherpeople.Theproblemthenarisesastothepointatwhichonecansaythattheseimitationscanbeconsideredasspeech.Itisaproblemweneedtogetoutteethinto.Themeaningofaworddependsonwhataparticularpersonmeansbyitinaparticularsituationanditisclearthatwhatachildmeansbyawordwillchangeashegainsmoreexperienceoftheworld.Thustheuseatsevenmonthsof“mama”asagreetingforhismothercannotbedismissedasameaninglesssoundsimplybecausehealsousesitatothertimesforhisfather,hisdog,oranythingelsehelikes.Playfulandmeaninglessimitationofwhatotherpeoplesaycontinuesafterthechildhasbeguntospeakforhimself,Idoubt,howeverwhetheranythingisgainedwhenparentstakeadvantageofthisabilityinanattempttoteachnewsounds.51.Beforechildrenstartspeaking________.A.theyneedequalamountoflisteningB.theyneeddifferentamountsoflisteningC.theyarealleagertocooperatewiththeadultsbyobeyingspokeninstructionsD.theycan’tunderstandandobeytheadult’soralinstructions52.Childrenwhostartspeakinglate________.A.mayhaveproblemswiththeirlisteningB.probablydonothearenoughlanguagespokenaroundthemC.usuallypaycloseattentiontowhattheyhearD.oftentakealongtimeinlearningtolistenproperly53.Ababy’sfirstnoisesare________.A.anexpressionofhismoodsandfeelingsB.anearlyformoflanguageC.asignthathemeanstotellyousomethingD.animitationofthespeechofadults54.Theproblemofdecidingatwhatpointababy’simitationscanbeconsideredasspeech________.A.isimportantbecausewordshavedifferentmeaningsfordifferentpeopleB.isnotespeciallyimportantbecausethechangeovertakesplacegraduallyC.isonethatshouldbeproperlyunderstoodbecausethemeaningofwordschangeswithageD.isonethatshouldbecompletelyignored（忽略）becausechildren’suseofwordsisoftenmeaningless55.Thespeakerimplies________.A.parentscanneverhopetoteachtheirchildrennewsoundsB.childrennolongerimitatepeopleaftertheybegintospeakC.childrenwhoaregoodatimitatinglearnnewwordsmorequicklyD.evenaftertheyhavelearnttospeak,childrenstillenjoyimitating51－55BDAD
