Babiesunderstandwhattheirmotherssay,evenwhentheyspeakalanguagetheirchildrenhaveneverheardbefore,scientistsclaim.
Theresearchersfoundthatone-year-oldsreactedinexactlysamewaytotheirmothers’voicesregardlessofwhethertheywerespeakingEnglishorGreek,showingwhatmothershavelongknown–thatbabiespickupontoneofvoiceratherthanthewordsthemselves.
Theresearchers,fromCardiffUniversity’sSchoolofPsychology,observedbabiesastheywatchedtheirmothersperformactionswithtoysusingtheEnglishwords“whoops”and“there”.Thescientistsstudiedreactionsfromone-year-oldbabiestotheirmums’voicesevenwhentheywerespeakingbothEnglishandGreek,andkeepingthesametoneofvoice.Theacademicsfoundthatbabiesreproducedthesamereactionsregardlessofwhethertheyknewthelanguage. 
StudyleaderDrMeridethGattisofCardiffUniversity’sSchoolofPsychologysays,“Whatthisworkshowedwasthatchildrencouldhaveaccesstounderstandingsimplythroughtoneofvoice.Wedid‘whoops’and‘there’intwolanguagesandgotexactlythesameresults.”Theresearch,publishedinthejournalCognitiveDevelopment,wasconductedon84babiesagedbetween14and18months,overthecourseofayear,withnoneofthebabieshavinganypreviousexposuretoGreek.
DrGattissaysthatchildrenrespondtotonecluesintheirparents’voicesfromanearlyage.
Shesays,“Toneofvoiceisareallyusefulsignalofwhatsomeoneisthinking.Weneverhavedirectaccesstootherpeople’sminds,exceptthesignalsinlanguagethattheygiveout.”Shesaysthestudyshowsthatitislessimportantwhatparentssaythanhowtheysayit.
DrGattisadds,“Achildmayaskifyoulikehis/herdrawing,forexample.Youmightsayyes,butifyoudon’tsoundenthusiastic,themeaningmaynotgetacross.”Beforechildrenbegintospeak,parentsshoulduseexaggeratedtonewhenspeakingtothem.
小题1:Accordingtothetext,whathavemotherslong-known?