Warm up - Thinking about the Topic

Language Quiz

1 Complete the following quiz on language learning with your partner. If you don't know, have a guess.

a. Which language has the most first language e. How many living languages are there in
speakers? the world today?
I. English I. 500
II. Mandarin Chinese II. 5,000
III. Arabic III. more than 5,000
b. At what age do most babies learn to speak? f. Which languages are considered to be the
I. six months most romantic?
II. one year I. French and Italian
III. between one year and 18 months II. German and English ;
c. Which is the language with the most words? III. Russian and Portuguese
I. Spanish g. A five-year-old child can understand how
II. English many words?
III. French I. 500
d. Which is the oldest language? II. 1,000
I. Greek III. 2,000
II. English
III. Egyptian

2 Discuss these questions with a partner.

• How many languages can you speak?

• How many would you like to learn?

Beginning to Read

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54 - Lessons for IELTS - Reading www.nhantriviet.com

.>
How We Learn to S ~eak
After another half year, most children can say
• A No two human beings are exactly alike. Each
one of us is different, yet we all have many
features in common. One of these features is that
E up to 8 or 10 words. At this age, children on
average can understand 5 words for every one word
when we are born, we all absolutely depend on others they can say. Around this age, children start to use
for all of our needs: food, shelter, clothes, protection, two words together as if they were one word, daddy
and love. Many important things happen during car, for example, which in adult language could
childhood, but central to the process of growing from mean either Daddy is in the car or it is daddy's car.
a baby with little personality into an individual with If it is the first meaning, the child will stress the
unique qualities is the development of communication. second word, car, and if it is the second meaning, the
word daddy will be stressed. By the time they blow
The first way a baby communicates its needs is out the two candles on their next birthday cake, they
B by crying, but eventually, babies realise that there
are other and better ways of communicating. The baby
will be able to utter approximately 40 words, and
two years later, they will be able to handle between
listens to all the meaningless sounds around it, and 200 and 300 different words. By the age of 5, the
it gradually gets used to the voices it hears. Day by child will understand nearly 2,000 words. Then,
day, week by week, and month by month, it learns it will be time for primary school and during this
to imitate those sounds, and so another language period of early schooling, the child's vocabulary will
speaker is born. This, of course, is an extremely grow by roughly another 1,000 words each year.
simple description of the very complex process of
learning a language, but it is, nonetheless, true.
F Learning a language is a very complicated
process, but all human beings are born with
language ability. The precise language they learn
C When did you become a language speaker?
Most children usually start talking when they
are around one year old. For some, it happens before
to speak depends on which language they hear all
around them. When babies are making nonsense
then, while for others it occurs sometime between sounds, some people say that they are trying out
their first birthday and eighteen months. Those all the possible sounds in all the world's languages
children who learn to talk earlier than others are a before identifying those sounds that they hear
source of immense pride to their parents. On the around them. When they have narrowed down all
other hand, if children are slow to start talking, possible sounds to the ones they hear every day, then
parents can worry that something is wrong. Experts those are the sounds they will produce and master,
declare that being a late starter is not a cause for and the other sounds will disappear. An example
concern or a sign that a child is not clever; after may help to clarify this: some Chinese people find
all , Einstein was three or four before he started it hard to hear the difference between [l] and [r),
speaking, and there was nothing lacking in his brain lock and rock, for instance, and speakers ofJapanese
power! All normal children learn to talk, but at sometimes have this problem, too. However, a study
different rates. showed that newborn Japanese babies could indeed
hear the difference between (1) and [r], even though
In .the first few mo~ths .of life, babies make their parents could not. Surprisingly, though, the
D noises that are nothmg hke words, but by six
months, they are making nonsense noises that are
babies lost this ability around the age of six months
and could then only hear the sounds their parents
beginning to sound like speech. After another six could hear and say.
months, children will be making mama noises, and
they will also try to repeat sounds that they hear. When
they make these noises or say these 'words', people do
things for them: they smile and pick them up, or they
G Learning a language takes persistence. It
requires practice, practice, practice. Above all,
it needs time. And if babies can do it, then so can
get attention and a cuddle. They are starting to realise you. Enjoy the adventure!
that language is a very useful tool indeed.

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 Skimming to Identify the Writer's Purpose

3 Skim the reading passage and choose the answer which best summarises the writer's purpose in
the article.

a. A description of how babies begin to learn language

b. A description of the process of language learning
c. A comparison of how babies and adults learn language
d. A discussion of how difficult it is to learn language

Scanning for Specific Information

4 Now, scan paragraphs D and E to find the specific information to fill the gaps.

a. 6 months old: making nonsense noises

b. 1 year old: making mama noises , repeating sounds

c. 2 years old: knowing about 40 words

d. 5 years old: understanding nearly 2000 words

Recognising Paragraph Patterns

5 Skim quickly to decide how this reading passage is organised. Do not include paragraph G.

a. Learning different languages Paragraph f

b . The age for first speaking Paragraph c
c. Language up to age 5 Paragraph e
d. Language up to age 1 Paragraph d
e. Introduction Paragraph a
f. Language for babies Paragraph b

56 - Lessons for IELTS - Reading www.nhantriviet.com

 UNIT

IELTS-Type Questions: Reading for Details and for Main Ideas

Now, you should be able to read this reading passage quickly to find details and answer the
following questions.

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~ L-l.St l::IOa..<.Y 9Yl'llM.IM.l'IY
I
~ge to neL-p l::loa..c.
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qa..c.estLoll\,s qa..c.Lc~Ll::I
Q~ l'ICCa..tYl'ltell::I.

The skill of learning to speak is one which is 1. common to all cultures.

As soon as they are born, babies cry in order to 2. communicate their
n eed s to th eir parents a nd those around them. The 3 . process
of gradually liste ning to a nd learning to produ ce sounds is universal ,
but there is considerable individua l 4. variation in the age at which
sp eech first occurs, although the average is at 5. approximately twelve
months. H owever, an early or late beginning to language production is
no indication of 6. intelligence , and nor is the 7. speed at which
language is learned.

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.....
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X'ote: ro11 lf'il! 11ot need to use all eftlte ag1:1 ,gil'en. tne SM~ wrcise ~
~gL~~ to R.tl'lct".

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 8. F speaking around 200 - 300 words A before 6 months old
9. A making sounds unrelated to language B 6 months to one year

10. copying the sounds of the local language

c at around one year old
C
D at 18 months old
11. G large growth in word production
E at 2 years old
12. B producing the beginnings of speech sounds F at 4 years old
13. D using two-word phrases G 5 to l 0 years old
~

Identification of Information TI'P

wLtk tkLs. t1:1-pt of
Do tluj1illmci1{f!, slalnnents agree lt·ith the i1!fim11atio11 gu:en i11 the reading passage? qL.<.ts.tL0111., bt eAYtfL.<.l
I Vrik: to o ll'vl 1:1 All\.S.WeY
'll'vO' Lf ljOL.<. fLll'vcl.
TRl!H ff the .1late111e11/ agree.1 u~th the i'!fimnation
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.XOT (,'/VE\. if there is 110 i1!fimnatio11 011 this
whLch Ls cl.LffeYell'vt to
the L111.foY~AtL0111. L111.
the s.tAte~ell'vt.

14. There is generally a problem with a child's language development if they start speaking later than
18 months. F
15. Young children put words together in ways which may have several alternative meanings.
T
16. The language which human beings learn and produce depends on what is spoken by their family or
caregiver. F
17. Teenage children are still learning vocabulary at a fast rate.
NG
18. At the age of eight months, Japanese babies were able to hear the difference between the sounds / 1/
and /r/. F
19. Children of different nationalities learn the sounds of their language in the same order. NG

20. The main idea in this passage is:

a. The process of learning language is very long and complex .
b. All humans have the same basic language learning process.
c. All children learn to speak at a different rate and time.
d. Learning language is very difficult and time-consuming.

58 - Lessons for IELTS - Reading www.nhantriviet.com

 After You Read
Vocabulary

· 6 Match the words on the left with their definitions on the right.

Word Definition

1. feature (n.J g a. rely on

---- - - -- --- -- - - - -
2. communicate (v.) i b. spoken language
-- - - - - - - - - - - - - -- --------
3. depend on (v.) a c. basic necessity or requirement

4. imitate (v.J j d. someone who knows a lot about a topic; an authority

- ------
5. occur (v.) m e. roughly; nearly
---
6 . expert (n.J d f. instrument

7. nonsense (n.J l g. characteristic

--- -----
8. speech (n.J b h. exact

9. attention (n.J k i. express ideas, spoken or written

10. tool (n.J f j. copy

11. approximately (adv.) e k. awareness

- - - - - - -- - - - - -
12. complicated (adj.) q I. language which does not make sense
p
---- -----------
13. ability (n.J m. happen
-~-

c
----------------------
14. need (n.J n. procedure
- - - - -- ---~-----

15. unique (adj.) o 0. special; only one

16. precise (adj.) h p. skill
17. process (n.) n q. complex

7 Choose the best word from the left column above to fill in the gap in each sentence.

a. Learning a language can be a difficult process , but it is worth it when you can communicate
with people from other cultures.
b. Every baby is unique and totally different to every other baby in the world!
c. Babies always get a lot of attention
when they are very young and cute.
d. Babies depend on their parents for food , shelter , and love.
e. Speech is the main way in which human beings communicate with each other.
( She has the ability to speak five different languages.
g. Studying for the IELTS R eading test is complicated as there are many different question
types and a lot of new vocabulary.
h. Speaking a second language is a useful communication tool

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 Finding Synonyms

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ofte"", ISLTS questLo""s wLLL use sl:::l""°""l:::ll'IA..5 ci""cl pciyciphycises to Ytpecit Lclecis fYo l'IA.. the YeciclL""g
pcisscige. CoV!A..pLete the foLLowL111-0 cictLvLtl:::l to buLLcl l:::louy R.V'vOwLeclge of 5l:::l""°""l:::ll'IA..5.

8 Find words in the reading passage which have a similar meaning.

a. complicated complex
b. approximately nearly
c. alike in common
d. different unique
e. words vocabulary
f. happen occur
g. say (2) utter declare
h. noises sounds
i. important central
J six months half year

Word Form Practice

9 Complete the table with appropriate forms of the words taken from the reading passage .

a communicate communication

b occur occurrence

c depend dependence

d imitate imitation

e utter utterance

f identify identification

g produce production

h differ differ ence

60 - Lessons for IELTS - Reading www.nhantriviet.com

 Idiomatic Language - Verbs and Prepositions

10 Write the prepositions which go with the following verbs in the reading passage.

\.-

I. depend on 2. get used to

3. listen to 1. pick up
5. try out 6. grow from / by
7. blow out 8. narrow down
9. born with

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