2 . Having an older brother comes with plenty of benefits. Big brothers tend to look after their younger brothers and sisters, and despite the occasional unpleasant moments here and there, many siblings(兄弟姐妹) enjoy life-long close relationships. However, a new study finds an interesting disadvantage. Children with older brothers take longer when it comes to developing language skills.
Researchers studied more than 1,000 children from birth to the age of five-and-a-half years old. Each child’s language skills were tested at ages 2, 3,and 5.5,using tests specially designed to measure lots of aspects of language development such as vocabulary, syntax(句法), and verbal(文字的)reasoning. What the research team discovered was significant. Children with an older brother had, on average, a two-month delay in their language development compared to studied children with an older sister.
As far as explaining this phenomenon(现象), researchers have proposed two assumptions. The first is that older sisters tend to talk more often than older brothers, which would compensate(补偿)for parents potentially being less present than they were for their first child. The second assumption is that older sisters usually compete with their siblings less than older brothers for their parents attention. The study’s authors say they can’t say for certain why children with older brothers have a harder time developing language skills. In the future they would like to study if culture or location impacts the prevalence(盛行)of these results.
The study is published in Psychological Science.
1. What did the new study find?
| A．Big brothers tend to look after their siblings. |
| B．Siblings tend to fight each other. |
| C．Many siblings enjoy life-long relationships. |
| D．Children with older brothers are slower in learning language. |
2. What is the purpose of the second paragraph?
| A．To explain the approach of the research. |
| B．To show some problems of the findings. |
| C．To offer some evidence given by experts. |
| D．To convince readers to get involved in. |
3. Which of the following belongs to the possible reasons?
| A．Older brothers fight for parents’attention. |
| B．Older brothers are stronger than older sisters. |
| C．Parents prefer older brothers to older sisters. |
| D．Older sisters can’t control their siblings. |
4. What is the researchers’attitude towards their study?
| A．Doubtful. | B．Negative. | C．Satisfied. | D．Excited. |
