The newborn can see the difference betweenvarious shapes and patterns from birth. He preferspatterns to dull or bright solid colors and lookslonger at stripes and angles than at circularpatterns. Within three weeks, however, his preference shifts dramatically to the human face.

　　Why should a baby with so little visual experience attend more to a human face than to anyother kind of pattern’? Some scientists think this preference represents a built in advantagefor the human species. The object of prime importance to the physically helpless infant is ahuman being. Babies seem to have a natural tendency to the human face as potentiallyrewarding. Researchers also point out that the newborn wisely relies more on pattern than onoutline, size, or color. Pattern remains stable, while outline changes with point of view; size,with distance from an object; and brightness and color, with lighting.

　　Mothers have always claimed that they could see their newborns looking at them as theyheld them, despite what they have been told. The experts who thought that perception (知觉)had to await physical development and the consequence of action were wrong for severalreasons. Earlier research techniques were less sophisticated than they are today. Physical skillswere once used to indicate perception of objects-skills like visual tracking and reaching for anobject, both of which the newborn does poorly. Then, too, assumptions that the newborn’s eyeand brain were too immature for anything as sophisticated as pattern recognition causedopposing data to be thrown away. Since perception of form was widely believed to followperception of more “basic” qualities such as color and brightness, the possibility of itspresence from birth was rejected.

　　◆31.What does a newborn baby like to see most’?

　　A) Bright colors.

　　B) Circular patterns.

　　C) Stripes and angles.

　　D) Various shapes.

　　◆32.The newborn pays more attention to a human face than any other kind of objectsbecause ________.

　　A) he sees a human face more often than any other kind of pattern

　　B) he has an inherent ability to regard a human being as helpful

　　C) a human face is the most complex pattern he can see

　　D) a human face is often accompanied by a pleasant voice

　　◆33.Contrary to what they believe, mothers have been told that newborns ________.

　　A) care little about a human face

　　B) can’t track their movements

　　C) can’t see their faces

　　D) can easily perceive brightness

　　◆34.In earlier researches on the newborn’s perception, scientists ________.

　　A) ignored evidence contrary to their assumptions

　　B) believed that perception of form comes before perception of color and brightness

　　C) opposed throwing away effective data

　　D) proved that physical skills come after visual perception

　　◆35.The main idea of the passage is that ________.

　　A) research techniques are of vital importance scientific investigation

　　B) the findings of earlier scientific researchers often prove wrong

　　C) newborns can perceive forms from birth

　　D) more often than not the claims of mothers are reliable

　　【参考答案】

　　31-35 BACCA