Language learning begins with listening. Children are greatly different in the amount of listening they do before they start speaking, and later starters are often long listeners .Most children will obey spoken instructions some time before they can speak, though the word obey is hardly accurate as a description of the eager and delighted cooperation usually shown by the child .Before they can speak, many children will also ask questions by gesture and by making questioning noises. It is a problem we need to get out teeth into. The meaning of a word depends on what a particular person means by it in a particular situation and it is clear that what a child means by a word will change as he gains more experience of the world .Thus the use at seven months of mama as a greeting for his mother cannot be dismissed as a meaningless sound simply because he also uses it at other times for his father, his dog, or anything else he likes. Playful and meaningless imitation of what other people say continues after the child has begun to speak for himself, I doubt, however whether anything is gained when parents take advantage of this ability in an attempt to teach new sounds . A .they need equal amount of listening C. they are all eager to cooperate with the adults by obeying spoken instructions 2. Children who start speaking late ________. B. probably do not hear enough language spoken around them D. often take a long time in learning to listen properly A. an expression of his moods and feelings C. a sign that he means to tell you something 4. The problem of deciding at what point a babys imitations can be considered as speech________. B. is not especially important because the changeover takes place gradually D. is one that should be completely ignoredbecause childrens use of words is often meaningless A. parents can never hope to teach their children new sounds C. children who are good at imitating learn new words more quickly 答案解析：BDABD 2. 在这个问题中，需要注意的是who start speaking late，也就是第一段第二句话中提到的later starters。所以回答这个问题还需要在第二句话中寻找答案later starters are often long listeners。 long listeners在指的就是often take a long time in learning to listen properly，所以答案选择D。 4.在第三段中我们可以找出答案it is clear that what a child means by a word will change as he gains more experience of the world .这句话的意思是说一个孩子通过一个单词要表达的意思会随着经验的增多而有所变化，所以该题的答案选择B。