考研英語(yǔ)：歷年真題閱讀要點(diǎn)之1993-Text 1

　　Is language, like food, a basic human need without which a child at a critical period of life can be starved and damaged? Judging from the drastic experiment of Frederick II in the thirteenth century, it may be. Hoping to discover what language a child would speak if he heard no mother tongue, he told the nurses to keep silent.

　　judge from“依據(jù)...判斷”;drastic“激烈的，猛烈的”和experiment“實(shí)驗(yàn)”連用，顯然不合適，因此，可以引申為“重要的”。Hoping to discover...現(xiàn)在分詞充當(dāng)目的狀語(yǔ);mother tongue“母語(yǔ)”。

　　But clearly there was more than lack of language here. What was missing was good mothering. Without good mothering, in the first year of life especially, the capacity to survive is seriously affected.

　　more than + n./ v.“不僅僅，不只是”;He is more than a teacher.“他不僅僅是一名老師。”They teach very well and more than earn their salaries.“他們擅長(zhǎng)教書(shū)，而且不僅僅是為了賺錢(qián)。”lack of“缺乏”。mothering“呵護(hù)，照料”;the capacity to survive“生存的能力”。

　　Nevertheless, some children are still backward in speaking. Most often the reason for this is that the mother is insensitive to the signals of the infant, whose brain is programmed to learn language rapidly. If these sensitive periods are neglected, the ideal time for acquiring skills passes and they might never be learned so easily again.

　　nevertheless“然而”，表轉(zhuǎn)折;常見(jiàn)的表轉(zhuǎn)折的詞還有but, yet, instead, however, whereas;backward“發(fā)展遲緩的”。most often“通常來(lái)說(shuō)”;be insensitive to“對(duì)...不敏感”;be programmed to do“按程序做...”。neglect“忽略，忽視”，相當(dāng)于ignore;acquire“習(xí)得”，名詞形式acquisition。

　　Experts suggest that speech stages are reached in a fixed sequence and at a constant age, but there are cases where speech has started late in a child who eventually turns out to be of high IQ.

　　expert“專(zhuān)家”;suggest“認(rèn)為”;in a fixed sequence“依據(jù)固定的次序”;at a constant age“在特定的年齡”;case“情況”;where引導(dǎo)定語(yǔ)從句;turn out to be“結(jié)果是...”;be of“具有...的性質(zhì)”。

　　And even more incredible is the young brain’s ability to pick out an order in language from the mixture of sound around him, to analyze, to combine and recombine the parts of a language in new ways.

　　even表示沿著同一方向遞進(jìn);incredible“難以置信的，驚人的”;pick out“辨認(rèn)”;to do不定式充當(dāng)后置定語(yǔ)，修飾限定ability;這是一個(gè)倒裝句，表語(yǔ)提前。

　　But speech has to be induced, ... Insensitivity of the mother to these signals dulls the interaction because the child gets discouraged and sends out only the obvious signals. Sensitivity to the child’s non-verbal signals is essential to the growth and development of language.

　　induce“激發(fā)”;dull“使遲鈍”;get discouraged“灰心喪氣”;discouraged“氣餒的”。be essential to“對(duì)...必不可少”。