A simple gesture can be formed into a child’s memory so quickly that it will cause the child to give a false answer to a question accompanied by that gesture. A new finding suggests that parents, social workers, psychologists and lawyers should be careful with their hands as well as their words.
While memories of both adults and children are easy to react to suggestion, those of children are known to be particularly influenced, said lead researcher Sara Broaders of Northwestern University. Kids are used to looking to adults to tell events for them and can be misled even if not intentionally.
Previous research, for example, has shown that detail-loaded questions often cause false answers; when asked, say “Did you drink juice at the picnic?” the child is likely to say “yes” even if no juice had been available. It is not that the child is consciously lying, but rather the detail is quickly formed into his or her memory.
To avoid this problem, social workers have long been advised to ask children only open-ended questions, such as “What did you have at the picnic?” But an open-ended question paired with a gesture, briefly meaning a juice box, is treated like a detailed question. That is ， children become likely to answer falsely.
And it isn’t just a few kids: 77% of children gave at least one piece of false information when a detail was suggested by an ordinary gesture. Gestures may also become more popular when talking with non-fluent language users, such as little kids, Broaders said as hand movements can impart meaning of unfamiliar words and phrases. “It certainly seems reasonable that adults would gesture more with children.’’
In general, Broaders advises parents and other adults to “try to be aware of your hands when questioning a child about an event. Otherwise, you might be getting answers that don’t reflect what actually happened.’’
1 ． What can we know about gestures from the text?
A ． They are rarely used by people. B ． They have certain effect on children.
C ． They have not any function at all. D ． They are often used by social workers.
2 ． Why are kids easy to be misled by gestures according to Sara Broaders?
A ． Children are easy to tell lies. B ． These gestures are very attractive.
C ． Their memories are affected easily. D ． These gestures are used frequently.
3 ． Which may cause a wrong reply according to the text?
A ． Where are you going Lucy?
B ． What will you have for lunch?
C ． Did you see anything else last night?
D ． Did you cheat in the last English examination?
1 ． B
2 ． C
3 ． D
【分析】
本文是说明文，主要介绍父母和其他人的手势对孩子的影响。专家建议父母和其他成年人在向孩子询问某件事时，尽量注意自己的手势。
1 ．
细节理解题。根据第一段 “A simple gesture can be formed into a child’s memory so quickly that it will cause the child to give a false answer to a question accompanied by that gesture. ” （一个简单的手势可以很快地形成孩子的记忆，以至于伴随这个手势，孩子会对一个问题做出错误的回答。）和第二段 “While memories of both adults and children are easy to react to suggestion, those of children are known to be particularly influenced, said lead researcher Sara Broaders of Northwestern University.” （西北大学的首席研究员萨拉 · 布罗德斯说，成年人和儿童的记忆都很容易受到暗示的影响，但儿童的记忆尤其容易受到影响。）可知，手势对孩子有特定的影响，选项 B 与文意相符，故选 B 项。
2 ．
细节理解题。通读全文，并结合第二段中 “While memories of both adults and children are easy to react to suggestion ， those of children are known to be particularly influenced” （成年人和儿童的记忆都容易对暗示做出反应，而儿童的记忆尤其容易受到影响。 ）可知，孩子容易受手势影响的原因是孩子的记忆容易被影响。选项 C 与文意相符，故选 C 项。
3 ．
推理判断题。根据第三段 “Previous research, for example, has shown that detail-loaded questions often cause false answers; when asked, say “Did you drink juice at the picnic?” the child is likely to say “yes” even if no juice had been available. It is not that the child is consciously lying, but rather the detail is quickly formed into his or her memory.” （例如，以前的研究表明，详细的问题往往会导致错误的答案：当被问到 “ 你在野餐时喝果汁了吗 ?” 即使没有果汁，孩子也很可能会说 “ 是 ” 。这并不是说孩子有意识地撒谎，而是细节很快就形成了他或她的记忆。）可知，研究表明，过多的细节问题往往会导致错误的答案。比较四个选型， D 选项为 “detail-loaded questions” ，其他三项为 “open-ended questions” 。所以选项 D 问的最细节，会导致错误答案。故选 D 项。
