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Passage One
段落一
A scientific team is studying the thinking ability of eleven and half month old children. The test is a simple one. The baby watches a sort of show on a small stage.
一个科学队正在研究11个半月大的婴儿的思考能力，这个测试很简单。让婴儿看一个小舞台上的表演。
In Act One of the show, a yellow cube is lifted from a blue box, and moved across the stage. Then it is returned to the box. This is repeated 6 times. Act Two is similar except that the yellow cube is smaller.
第一幕是一个黄色的立方体从蓝色盒子上拿起，穿过舞台，然后再放回盒子，重复六次。第二幕与第一幕相似，只是黄色立方体更小些。
Baby boys do not react at all to the difference and the size of the cube. But girls immediately become excited.
男婴对黄色立方体的大小没反应。但女婴立即兴奋起来。
The scientists interpret the girls' excitement as meaning they are trying to understand what they have just seen. They are wondering why Act Two is odd and how it differs from Act One. In other words, the little girls are reasoning.
科学家们解释，女婴兴奋是因为她们在试图理解刚看过的表演。她们想知道第二幕为什么看起来奇怪，跟第一幕不同在哪里。换句话说，女婴正在推理。
This experiment certainly does not definitely prove that girls start to reason before boys, but it provides a clue that scientists would like to study more carefully.
这个实验当然不能肯定女婴比男婴早学会了推理，但它为科学家们更仔细地研究提供了一个线索。
Already it is known that bones, muscles and nerves develop faster in baby girls. Perhaps it is early nerve development that makes some infant girls show more intelligence than infant boys.
我们已经知道女婴的骨骼、肌肉和神经的发育比男婴早。也许是早期的神经发育使女婴比男婴表现的更聪明。
Scientists have also found that nature seems to give another boost to girls. Baby girls usually talk at an earlier age than boys do.
科学家们又发现自然似乎还给了女婴一些帮助。女孩比男孩说话早。
Scientists think that there is a physical reason for this. They believe that the nerve endings in the left side of the brain develop faster in girls than in boys, and it is this side of the brain that strongly influences an individual's ability to use language and remember things.
科学家相信这是身体原因，女孩大脑左侧的神经末梢发育的较快。正是大脑中这侧神经对个人语言能力和记忆能力起主要影响。
Question 26 to 29 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
基于你听到的回答问题26至29。
Question 26. What is the difference between Act One and Act Two in the test?
问题26. 第一幕和第二幕有什么区别？
Question 27. How do the scientists interpret their observation from the experiment?
问题27. 科学家如何解释他们在实验中的行为？
Question 28. What does the speaker say about the experiment?
问题28. 关于实验，作者说了什么？
Question 29. According to scientists, what is another advantage given to girls by nature?
问题29. 自然赋予女孩的另一个优势是什么？
