Once a baby cries, the parents will go to see what happened as soon as possible. According to a new study, a baby's cry can make adults react(反應) very quickly, even if they are not related.
Oxford University researchers used the classic game whack-a-mole for the study. Whack-a-mole(打鼴鼠游戲) requires people to hit one of nine buttons (按鈕). The players must react as quickly as they can to whichever of the buttons lights up at random(隨機). It is a game that requires speed and accuracy (準確度 ).
The study included 40 men and women volunteers aged 19 to 59. Some of them had sons or daughters but none had a baby at the time. They played whack-a-mole after listening to different sounds, including babies crying, the crying of adults in trouble and birdsong played at a similar pitch to the babies' cries.
The volunteers' scores were higher after listening to the sound of crying babies. Men and women had similar scores overall. The results showed that a crying baby gets special attention.
"Few sounds make people react quite like the cry of a baby," said Morten Kringelbach of Oxford's psychiatry（精神病學） department, who led the study. "For example, it's almost impossible to ignore(忽視，不理) crying babies on planes. This is true even though there are so many other noises around."
He added that a baby's cry can increase adults' heart rate and blood pressure. This is understandable, because in the course of human evolution (進化), taking care of babies has always been an important job for adults. When a baby is hungry or feeling bored or unwell, it will cry. As a result, human brains and bodies develop a special reaction to a baby's cry.
【小題1】According to the passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?
| A．There were 80 volunteers who took part in the study. |
| B．The youngest volunteer was 19 and the oldest was 59. |
| C．Some volunteers had babies at that time in the study. |
| D．The volunteers were affected by the sound of a baby’s cry. |
【小題2】The game “whack-a-mole” shows ______.
| A．a baby’s cry can get special attention from adults |
| B．men and women have different reaction speed and accuracy |
| C．adults without babies react less quickly to a baby’s cry |
| D．women react to a baby’s cry more quickly than men |
【小題3】“Whack-a-mole” requires people to hit _____ at a time.
| A．one button | B．one of nine buttons |
| C．nine buttons | D．ten buttons |
【小題4】According to the passage, a baby’s cry ______.
| A．has the same pitch as birdsong |
| B．is the noisiest sound there is |
| C．can increase adults’ heart rate and blood pressure |
| D．is good for its health |
【小題5】From the last paragraph, we learn that ______.
| A．taking care of the younger babies was the most important thing in the past |
| B．human brains and bodies have developed to take care of babies |
| C．baby cries are a good way make adults react quickly |
| D．baby cries have developed a lot during the course of human evolution |
