‘How baby talk gives infant brains a boost’- Reading Answer Explanation- CAM- 13.

Here are explanations of the Questions of passage named ‘How baby talk gives infant brains a boost’, which is from the Cambridge 13 book. The Questions that have been asked are ‘finding information, Finding author’s Name and Blanks . You will find the locations of the Reading Answers, Keywords(highlighted and underlined) and justifications.

READING PASSAGE 2: How baby talk gives infant brains a boost

Question	Answer
14	B
15	C
16	A
17	B
18	RECORDING DEVICES
19	FATHERS/ DADS
20	BRIDGE HYPOTHESIS
21	REPERTOIRE
22	(AUDIO-RECORDING) VESTS
23	VOCABULARY
24	F
25	A
26	E

Questions 14-17

Look at the following ideas (Questions 14-17) and the list of researchers below.
Match each idea with the correct researcher, A, B or C.

Write the correct letter, A, B or C, in boxes 14-17 on your answer sheet.

NB  You may use any letter more than once.

14   the importance of adults giving babies individual attention when talking to them

Location: D paragraph

Explanation: The main keyword is ‘individual attention’ and its reference is there in the second last line of the paragraph. ‘We also found that it really matters whether you use baby talk in a one-on-one context,’ she adds…’Here, ‘one-on-one context’ means ‘individual attention’. Thus, the answer is B.

Answer: B

15   the connection between what babies hear and their own efforts to create speech

Location: F paragraph

Explanation: The answer to this question is in the middle line of the paragraph. ‘Finding activation in motor areas the baby brain is engaged in trying to talk back right from the start, and suggests that seven-month-olds’. Here, ‘engaged in trying to talk’ means ‘efforts to create speech’. Thus, the answer is clear.

Answer: C

‘How baby talk gives infant brains a boost’- Reading Answer Explanation- CAM- 13.

16   the advantage for the baby of having two parents each speaking in a different way

Location: C paragraph

Explanation: The main keyword is ‘advantage’ and its reference is there in the last line of the paragraph. ‘ The idea is that a kid gets to practice a certain kind of speech with mom and another kind of speech with dad, so the kid then has a wider repertoire of kinds of speech to practice,’ says VanDam. Thus, kid has a wider repertoire is an advantage.

Answer: A

17   the connection between the amount of baby talk babies hear and how much vocalising they do themselves

Location: D paragraph

Explanation: The answer to this question is in the fifth line of the paragraph. ‘Those children who listened to a lot of baby talk were talking more than the babies that listened to more adult talk or standard speech,’ says Nairán. Here, ‘vocalising’ and ‘talking’ are synonyms. Here, this statement shows the connection.

Answer: B

List of Researchers

A          Mark VanDam
B          Nairán Ramirez-Esparza
C          Patricia Kuhl

Questions 18-23

Complete the summary below.
Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.

Write your answers in boxes 18-23 on your answer sheet.

Research into how parents talk to babies

Researchers at Washington State University used 18……………………………, together with specialised computer programs, to analyse how parents interacted with their babies during a normal day.

Location:  C paragraph

Explanation: The main keyword ‘Washington state university’ helps to locate the answer in the second line of the paragraph. ‘Washington State University at Spokane and colleagues equipped parents with recording devices and speech-recognition software to study the way they interacted…’Here, ‘equipped ’ means ‘used’. Moreover, ‘specialised computer software’=‘speech-recognition software’

Answer: Recording devices

‘How baby talk gives infant brains a boost’- Reading Answer Explanation- CAM- 13.

The study revealed that 19………………………… tended not to modify their ordinary speech patterns when interacting with their babies.

Location: C paragraph

Explanation: The location of the answer is in the middle line of the paragraph. ‘Dads didn’t raise their pitch or fundamental frequency when they talked to kids.’ Here, ‘didn’t raise their pitch…’ means ‘tended not to modify…’Thus, the answer is ‘Dads’

Answer: Dads

According to an idea known as the 20……………………….., they may use a more adult type of speech to prepare infants for the language they will hear outside the family home.

Location: C paragraph

‘How baby talk gives infant brains a boost’- Reading Answer Explanation- CAM- 13.

Explanation: The answer to this question is in the last third line of the paragraph. ‘Their role may be rooted in what is called the bridge hypothesis, which dates back to 1975…’ Here, ‘called the’ and ‘known as’ are synonyms.

Answer: Bridge hypothesis

According to the researchers, hearing baby talk from one parent and ‘normal’ language from the other expands the baby’s 21………………………… of types of speech which they can practise.

Location: C section

Explanation: The answer to this question is in the last line of the paragraph. ‘ The idea is that a kid gets to practice a certain kind of speech… so the kid then has a wider repertoire of kinds of speech to practice,’ says VanDam…’ Here ‘expand’ and ‘wider’ are synonyms. Moreover, ‘type of’ and ‘kinds of’ means the same.

Answer: Repertoire

‘How baby talk gives infant brains a boost’- Reading Answer Explanation- CAM- 13.

Meanwhile, another study carried out by scientists from the University of Washington and the University of Connecticut recorded speech and sound using special 22……………………………… that the babies were equipped with.

Location: D paragraph

Explanation: The main keyword ‘University of Connecticut’ helps to locate the answer in the first line of the paragraph. ‘University of Connecticut collected thousands of 30-second conversations between parents and their babies, fitting 26 children with audio-recording vests that captured language…’Here, ‘fitting children with’ means ‘equipped with…’Thus, the answer is clear.

Answer: Recording Vests

When they studies the babies again at age two, the found that those who had heard a lot of baby talk in infancy had a much larger 23……………………………. Than those who had not.

Location: D paragraph

Explanation: The main keyword ‘two’ helps to locate the answer in the ‘And when researchers saw the same babies at age two, they found that frequent baby talk had dramatically boosted vocabulary, regardless of socioeconomic status… ‘Here, boosted’ and ‘larger’ are synonyms. In addition, ‘lot of baby talk’ has been written as ‘frequent baby talk’

Answer: Vocabulary

Questions 24-26

Reading Passage 2 has six paragraphs, A-F.

Which paragraph contains the following information?

Write the correct letter, A-F, in boxes 24-26 on your answer sheet.

24   a reference to a change which occurs in babies’ brain activity before the end of their first year.

Location and Answer: F

Explanation: The location of the answer is in the middle line of the paragraph. ‘Finding activation in motor areas the baby brain is engaged in trying to talk back right from the start, and suggests that seven-month-olds’ Here, ‘seven-month-olds’ is ‘end of their first year…’Moreover, ‘activation’ means ‘change’.

25   an example of what some parents do for their baby’s benefit before birth

Location and Answer: A

Explanation: The answer to this question is in the second line of the paragraph. ‘Most babies start developing their hearing while still in the womb, prompting some hopeful parents to play classical music to their pregnant bellies.     Here, ‘still in the womb’ means ‘before birth’. Hence, the answer is clear.

26   a mention of babies’ preference for the sounds that other babies make Advertisements.

Location and Answer: E

Explanation: The main keyword ‘advertisements’ helps to locate the answer in the second line of the paragraph. ‘that babies seem to like listening to each other rather than to adults – which may be why baby talk is such a universal tool among parents…’This statement means babies preference for the sounds is to listen to other babies. Hence, the answer is E.

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