Practice 1

Warm Up

1. A baby's first word is usually the one that is the easiest to pronounce. What is most likely to be a baby's first word in an English-speaking country? Choose one from the list.

mama father banana piano Mother

Read the Passage

Language Learning

How do babies learn to speak? Babies pay attention to the speech they hear around them before they can speak. Young babies respond to the sound of the human voice differently to other sounds. They will stop crying when they hear a person talking, but not if they hear a bell. Very soon, the differences in adults' voices can influence babies' emotions. Long before they can understand language, babies can sense when an adult is playful or angry. By twelve months old, babies can produce single words such as mommy or daddy. Then, they may copy short phrases. They also learn to use the same words or phrases for different purposes. For instance, "Mommy drink" might mean "Mommy is drinking" or "Mommy, I want your drink". At around age three, many toddlers can speak complete sentences. Adults also exaggerate their speech so that babies can pick up a language easily. This is often called "baby talk". Baby talk is different from the way adults speak to each other. For example, when mothers talk to babies, they speak louder and slower. Mothers also use short, simple words or sentences with a highpitched soft tone of voice. Baby talk is more effective than normal speech to get a baby's attention. Studies have shown that babies prefer to listen to baby talk.

Target TOEFL iBT Questions

1 The word influence in the passage is closest in meaning to

A affect B encourage C touch

2 The word sense in the passage is closest in meaning to

A observe B feel C remember

3 The word purposes in the passage is closest in meaning to

A ideas B reasons C conditions

4 The word they in the passage refers to

A adults B mothers C babies

TOEFL iBT Vocabulary

Fill in the blanks with the appropriate words.

1. v. to react, to reply

2. v. to imitate, to do something the way others do

3. adj. full, including all details

4. v. to overstate, to make something greater than it really is

5. n. a young child

respond complete toddler exaggerate copy

Wrap Up

A. Complete the sentences with the appropriate words.

copying exaggerate toddler responded complete

1 The campaign tends to the negative effects of secondhand smoke.

2 A is a young child between the ages of one to three years old.

3 The company quickly to the customer's complaints.

4 Children learn by adults' behavior.

5 The story was finally presented in its form.

B. Paragraph 1: Number the sentences in the correct order.

Paragraph 2: Fill in the blanks with the appropriate words.

Paragraph 1: How do babies learn to speak?

1.Babies pay attention to the speech they hear around them.

Babies copy short phrases.

Babies can speak complete sentences.

The differences in adults' voices influence babies' emotions.

Babies can produce single words.

Paragraph 2: Baby talk

Adults their speech: They speak and slower using short, simple words or sentences with a soft tone of voice. Baby talk may help a child pick up a language quickly.