VOA标准英语2010年-Researchers Finding Babies Smarter Tha

What babies know fascinates doctors, researchers and parents. With technology that can measure brain waves and other indicators¹, what researchers are finding is that babies know more than we suspect.

What do they know and when do they know it? Such questions have researchers monitoring babies' brains to find out. 

At Northwestern University, researchers recently concluded that well before babies start to speak, they recognize words and can link them to the things they represent.

At four and a half months, Finn is not talking, but he definitely responds to what his mother says.

The Northwestern study and others indicate that one of the best things parents can do is talk to their babies.

Covington Campbell started talking to her baby even before he was born. "I spoke² to Finn all the time.  I sort of narrated³ what I was doing," Campbell said,

Researchers think babies begin developing language skills while they are in the womb. Campbell was in law school when she was pregnant with Finn. "I was finishing my last semester of law school, so, I guess, check back with me in 30 years and see if he's a litigator, because he would definitely come alive in my corporations classes and he always heard my professors speaking," she said.

Professor Kathy Hirsh-Pasik directs the Infant Language Laboratory at Temple University in Philadelphia. "We think the very first processes of language development are actually starting in the womb because they are overhearing their mother's speech," she said. 

Researchers say that is when babies pick up the melodies of language. "They can sometimes remember some of the words that they've heard.  And they appear to zoom⁴ in on classes of language. They may not know French from Spanish, but they know that that's in one group and English and German are in another group," Hirsh-Pasik said.

Another study shows that babies and children who are frequently talked to have higher IQ scores and later on, do better in school.

Child development specialist Judy Montgomery encourages parents to talk to their babies. "Parents and caregivers; the family members are the first ones who introduce vocabulary.  And the more words the children hear, the greater their vocabulary," she said.

There are even devices that count the words babies hear to help parents gauge⁵ just how much they talk to their babies.

But Hirsh-Pasik warns against putting babies in front of a television. "Children need the interactive⁶ back-and-forth.  We call it 'reciprocity,'" she said.

Campbell says she likes to sing to her baby. "He smiles a lot when we sing to him.  He definitely reacts to it, it sort of calms him down a little bit," she said.
 

1 indicators   

（仪器上显示温度、压力、耗油量等的）指针( indicator的名词复数 )； 指示物； （车辆上的）转弯指示灯； 指示信号

参考例句：

• The economic indicators are better than expected. 经济指标比预期的好。
• It is still difficult to develop indicators for many concepts used in social science. 为社会科学领域的许多概念确立一个指标仍然很难。

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 narrated   

v.故事( narrate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Some of the story was narrated in the film. 该电影叙述了这个故事的部分情节。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Defoe skilfully narrated the adventures of Robinson Crusoe on his desert island. 笛福生动地叙述了鲁滨逊·克鲁索在荒岛上的冒险故事。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 zoom   

n.急速上升；v.突然扩大，急速上升

参考例句：

• The airplane's zoom carried it above the clouds.飞机的陡直上升使它飞到云层之上。
• I live near an airport and the zoom of passing planes can be heard night and day.我住在一个飞机场附近，昼夜都能听到飞机飞过的嗡嗡声。

5 gauge   

v.精确计量；估计；n.标准度量；计量器

参考例句：

• Can you gauge what her reaction is likely to be?你能揣测她的反应可能是什么吗？
• It's difficult to gauge one's character.要判断一个人的品格是很困难的。

6 interactive   

adj.相互作用的，互相影响的，（电脑）交互的

参考例句：

• The psychotherapy is carried out in small interactive groups.这种心理治疗是在互动的小组之间进行的。
• This will make videogames more interactive than ever.这将使电子游戏的互动性更胜以往。