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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.
Gestures can be as informative as speech, but hand gestures are so common that we rarely notice we’re using them.
While the recollection(回忆) of both adults and children is easy to react to suggestions, the memories 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(误导) even if not intentionally(故意地).
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. ”
【语篇概述】研究表明, 手势语有消极作用, 会误导对方, 尤其会误导孩子, 本文探索了其中的原因。
1. According to the text, gestures _______.
A. don’t have any function at all
B. are rarely used by people
C. have certain effect on children
D. are often used by social workers
【解析】选C。细节理解题。文章第一段就指出手势语对孩子有影响, 而全文都在说这一观点, 故选C。
2. Why are kids easy to be misled by gestures according to Sara Broaders?
A. These gestures are very attractive.
B. Their memories are affected easily.
C. Children are easy to tell lies.
D. These gestures are used frequently.
【解析】选B。细节理解题。根据第一段首句和第三段可知, 主要原因是孩子的记忆很容易受到外界的影响, 故选B。
3. The underlined word “impart” in Paragraph 6 means _______.
A. separate B. tell apart C. confuse D. pass on
【解析】选D。词义猜测题。由语境可知, 大人对孩子使用更多的手势语是非常有理由的, 手势语能够传达那些不熟悉的单词和短语的含义, 故选D。
4. What would be the best title for the text?
A. Gestures—a Useful Way of Education
B. Gestures Can Mislead Children
C. Gestures Mean Adults’ Directions
D. Gestures Affect Children Much
【解析】选B。主旨大意题。短文主要介绍了一项研究结果: 手势语会对孩子产生误导作用。D项表达内容太宽泛, 故选B。
