1 . Phonetic (语音) information—the smallest sound elements of speech - is considered by researchers to be the basis of language. Babies are thought to learn these small sound elements and add them together to make words. But a new study suggests that phonetic information is learnt too late and slowly for this to be the case. Instead, rhythmic (有韵律的) speech helps babies learn language and is effective even in the first few months of life.

Researchers from the Trinity College Dublin investigated babies’ ability to process phonetic information during their first year. Their study, published in the journal Nature Communications. found that phonetic information wasn’t successfully encoded (编码) until seven months old, and did not occur very often at 11 months old when babies began to say their first words. From then individual speech sounds are still added in very slowly—too slowly to form the basis of language.

The researchers recorded patterns of brain activity in 50 babies at four, seven, and eleven months old as they watched a video of a primary school teacher singing 18 nursery rhymes (童谣) to a baby. They found that phonetic encoding in babies appeared inchmeal over the first year of life, beginning with labial sounds (e.g. “d” for “daddy”) and nasal sounds (e.g. “m” for “mummy”), with the “read out” progressively looking more like that of adults.

“The reason why we use nursery rhymes is because that is the best way for babies to discover and connect sounds with language, so we are teaching them how to speak,” said Giovanni Di Liberto, lead author of the study at Trinity College Dublin in Ireland. “Parents should talk and sing to their babies as much as possible or use baby-directed speech because it will make a difference to language outcome,” she added.

1. What should babies learn in the first few months of life according to the new study?

A．Small sound elements	B．Rhythmic information.
C．Phonetic information.	D．Individual words.

2. What does the author mainly discuss in paragraph 2?

A．The poor phonetic encoding in babies.	B．The advantages of phonetic information.
C．The babies’ great ability to learn language.	D．The babies’ growing process in the first year.

3. What does the underlined word “inchmeal” mean in paragraph 3?

A．Gradually.

B．Suddenly.

C．Successfully.

D．Occasionally.

4. What is the best title of the text?

A．When Babies Are Able to Say Their First Words

B．How Phonetic Information Changes Over Time

C．Why Phonetic Is Better Than Rhythmic for Babies

D．Why Babies Need Nursery Rhymes for Language Mastery

2 . Building language skills doesn’t happen overnight, especially if you want to become a fluent speaker. However, there are some important tips and tricks that work for every learner.

1. Engage yourself in a language

Engagement is arguably the most effective way to learn a language. You should surround yourself with the language and listen to it as much as you can. Just try to speak the language in different situations, even if it’s not necessary.     1     If you don’t know the word, that would be a nice chance to look it up and learn something new.

2. Learn through context

If you’re learning a language, you should make sure that it’s based on natural dialogues and real-world situations. Contextual learning will help you guess the meaning from the context.     2     Learning about culture, people, and customs is an important part of acquiring language skills. And that’s really important, especially when you’re just starting out.

3.     3    

Grammar is the foundation of every language and a system of rules that allow us to structure sentences. But people are often afraid of it or they find it dreadfully boring.     4     Instead, grammar can be taught through examples, stories, and, once again, context! In other words, you should see grammar in action. You shouldn’t only learn grammar rules but rather see them in usage.

As you can see, there are many ways to practice the language efficiently.     5     One thing is for sure: learning languages can and should be a fun and enjoyable experience.

A．Learn language rules systematically.

B．Don’t skip grammar — but do it differently.

C．You just need to find a method that works for you and keep at it.

D．For instance, if you’re making dinner, you can try to name each cuisine.

E．This is a great way to learn from locals while integrating in a new country.

F．It will also allow you to apply your knowledge and get valuable cultural insights.

G．Learning it doesn’t have to involve memorizing a bunch of rules from a textbook.

4 . It’s often said that we human beings can dream in a foreign language. Could dreaming in a foreign language improve our memory? Does dreaming in a foreign language mean we are making progress in learning that language?

Before we look at multilingual (多语言) dreams, first we need to look at sleep. The connection between sleep and language can be applied to how we learn any language, including our native language. Even adults still learn about one new word every two days in their first language. But, if we are going to remember that new word better, what matters is that we need to connect it with what we have learned. And in order to do that, we “need to have some sleep”, says Gareth Gaskell, a professor at the University of York.

It’s during sleep that the integration (整合) of old and new knowledge happens. At might, one part of our brain — the hippocampus — takes whatever new information it receives during the day and passes it on to other parts of the brain to be stored. The role that dreams play in this night-time learning process is still being studied, but “it’s entirely possible that during multilingual dreams, the brain is trying to connect the two languages”, says Marc, a researcher at a university in Bern, Switzerland.

So having multilingual dreams could mean that our brain is trying to remember a new word or phrase. However, it could also have an emotional (情感) significance. Danuta, a professor of psycholinguistics at the University of Silesia in Poland, suggests that multilingual dreams can express “fears or wishes” around learning a foreign language, including the wish to be a local speaker or to be accepted within a certain community.

We clearly still have a lot to learn about multilingual dreams, but one thing seems certain: if you’re trying to learn a new language, you can sleep on it.

1. Why does the author mention questions in paragraph 1?

A．To compare different ideas.	B．To introduce the main topic.
C．To present different types of dreams.	D．To discuss the human language ability.

2. What is the key element in memorizing a new word according to the text?

A．The other new words.	B．The native language.
C．The gained knowledge.	D．The speaking practice.

3. What can we learn about multilingual dreams?

A．They may influence people’s sleep quality.	B．They can reflect language-learning feelings.
C．They are the best option to learn a language.	D．They help to clear up the useless information.

4. Where is the text most likely from?

A．A novel.

B．A diary.

C．A guidebook.

D．A magazine.

8 . There are numerous resources available for you to learn a language online, and many of them are free.

Watch TV in the language you’re studying.     1     For example, if you have the television on while you’re washing dishes, that is passive listening. To use TV viewing as a tool to improve your language skills, pay attention and watch actively.     2     In this way, you can understand what’s being said. Later, you might turn on subtitles in the language you`re learning.

Listen to music or podcasts.     3     Another advantage of listening to music or to a podcast is that you’re free to do something else at the same time.

Don’t be afraid to start with children’s books or comic books online. You likely learned how to read your native language through children’s books, and you can learn another language the same way.     4    

    5     If the language you’re studying is an official language of a country, there will typically be national news and entertainment websites in that language. Do a general online search for “news” with the name of the country. You might try doing your search in the language to bring up websites that are in that language.

A．Learn about the culture behind the language.

B．Turn on subtitles in your own language at first.

C．Visit international news or entertainment websites.

D．This helps to listen to the language as often as possible.

E．The words will be simpler and easier for you to understand.

F．However, you must employ active rather than passive listening.

G．The repetition of most music lyrics makes them a way to learn language.

10 . How to improve English pronunciation

It’s true that you do not have to sound exactly like a native English speaker. However, when you meet someone for the first time, a good pronunciation will help leave a good impression on him/her. Here are some tips on improving your English pronunciation.

    1    

You cannot correct your pronunciation when you don’t know the rules of it. So, start improving your pronunciation by first making yourself clear about the knowledge.

Watch while listening.

Find an article with recording.     2     In this way, you can learn the relationship between the spelling of a word and the sound, and what words sound like when they’re in a sentence together.

Have yourself recorded.

Hearing your own voice can be a strange experience. But it is a great way to improve your speech habits. If there’s a letter or word that you want to improve upon, record yourself saying it.     3     Find the differences and improve your way of pronunciation.

Add correct stress to words.

English is a stressed language.     4     You can hear this when you say a word out loud. For example, the word “introduce” is pronounced with a stress at the end, so it sounds like this: “in-tro-DUCE”．

Practice every day.

After learning how to say something correctly, you need to practice often.     5     With enough practice, you can get what sounds right too.

A．Learn the rules.

B．Write down what you hear.

C．Look at the words while listening to the recording.

D．Then compare it with the recordings of native speakers.

E．That means greater force is used in speaking some words.

F．There are some excellent recordings on English pronunciation.

G．For at least 30 minutes a day, repeat the correct way to pronounce the words.