Despite other explanations, the real answer in my opinion lies partly in the child himself, partly in the behaviour of the people around him. In the first place, the time of learning the mother tongue is the most favourable of all, namely, the first years of life. A child hears it spoken from morning till night and, what is more important, always in its genuine form, with the right pronunciation, right intonation, right use of words and right structure. He drinks in all the words and expressions which come to him in a fresh. Ever-bubbling spring. There is no resistance: there is perfect assimilation.
　　Then the child has, as it were, private lessons all the year round, while an adult language-student had each week a limited number of hours which he generally shares with others. The child has another advantage: he hears the language in all possible situations, always accompanied by the tight kind of gestures and facial expressions. Here there is nothing unnatural, such as is often found in language lessons in schools, when one talks about ice and snow in June or scorching heat in January. And what a child hears is generally what immediately interests him. Again and again, when his attempts at speech are successful, his desires are understood and fulfilled.
　　Finally, though a child's "teachers" may not have been trained in language teaching, their relations with him are always close a personal. They take great pains to make their lessons easy.

1. Compared with adults learning a foreign language, children learn their native language with ease.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Not mentioned

2. Adults' knowledge and metal powers hinder their complete mastery of a foreign language.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Not mentioned

3. The reason why children learn their mother tongue so well lies solely in their environment of learning.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Not mentioned

4. Plenty of practice in listening during the first years of life partly ensures children's success of learning their mother tongue.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Not mentioned

5. A child learning his native language has the advantage of having private lessons all the year round.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Not mentioned

6. Gestures and facial expressions may assist a child in mastering his native language..
A. Right B. Wrong C. Not mentioned

7. So far as language teaching is concerned, the teacher's close personal relationship with the student is more important than the professional language teaching training he has received.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Not mentioned

KEY：ACBABAC



PASSAGE 10

How Men Face the Fat Problem

　　It is a pleasure to see men of a certain age worrying about their weight. Listening to them is not such a pleasure. Because the men are new at the game, they don't hesitate to discuss the fat problem incessantly. However, women of the same age do not discuss the fat problem, especially not in mixed company. They prefer to face the problem with quiet dignity. Discussing the problem might only draw attention to some stray body part that may be successfully tucked away under an article of clothing.
　　The age at which a man begins to explore the fat problem can vary. The actual problem can manifest itself in the early 30's, but broad-range discussion usually starts later. There are early nonverbal symptoms. I've watched the rugged journalist who shares my apartment sneak by with a Diet Coke. His shirts are no longer neatly tucked in to display a trim waist. Recently he has begun to verbalize his anxiety. He tells me, with a sheepish grin, that he is taking his suits to Chinatown to have them "tailored."

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