特别广播英语第 57 课：Why Don't Girls Think Like Boys?
为什么女孩不能像男孩那样考虑问题-2

As one scientist says, "Nothing is impossible for a person to be or do." 正如一位科学家所说的，"任何一个人只要你想成为一个什么样的人，只要你想做某件事，都不是不能成功的。"

In several recent studies, young babies have been observed and tested to discover how different abilities are developed. 最近做了几次调查研究，观察并测试了很小的婴儿，以便发现不同的能力是怎样培养出来的。

A scientific team headed by Jerome Kagan, a psychologist at Harvard University, is studying the thinking ability of children 11 1/2 months old. 以哈佛大学的心理学家杰罗姆o卡根为首的科研组对一批11个半月大的婴儿的思考能力进行了观察。

The test is a simple one. The baby, while seated on its mother's lap, watches a "show" on a small theater stage. 这种测试方法很简单。让婴儿的坐在妈妈的大腿上，观看一个小剧场的舞台上的"表演"。

In act 1 of the show, an orange-colored block is lifted from a blue box and moved slowly across the stage. 在第1幕的演出中，把一块橙色的东西从一个蓝色的箱子中拿了起来，然后慢慢地横着从舞台一边移动到另一边。

Then it is returned to the box. This is repeated six times. Act 2 is similar, except that the orange block is smaller. 然后再把它放回箱子里去。这样重复做了六遍。这第2幕跟第1幕是相似的，除了那个橙色块小了一点。

Baby boys do not seem to notice the difference in the size of the block, but girls immediately become excited and begin to make noises that sound like language. They seem to be trying to talk. 小男婴儿似乎没注意到这个"块"的大小有什么不同，可是女婴却都立刻激动起来并发现了听起来像是语言的声音。似乎是她们要和人们说话。

It is known that bones, muscles, and nerves develop faster in baby girls. 众所周知，女婴的骨骼、肌肉和神经都发育得比较快。

Usually, too, baby girls talk at an earlier age than boys do. 大多数情况下，女婴也比男婴开始说话时间早。