Cambridge IELTS 13 · Academic · Test 3 · Passage 2
How Baby Talk Gives Infant Brains A Boost — IELTS Reading Answers
All 13 answers for How Baby Talk Gives Infant Brains A Boost, Cambridge IELTS 13 Academic Reading Test 3 Passage 2, with the passage evidence and an explanation for each.
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How Baby Talk Gives Infant Brains A Boost answer key at a glance
Questions 14–26. Tap an answer to see the evidence.
What this passage tests
This passage is tested with Matching Features (Q14–17), Summary Completion (Q18–23), Matching Information (Q24–26). Each section below gives the strategy for that question type, the answers, and the sentence that proves them.
Questions 14–17: Matching Features
Strategy: Match the statement to the named person or thing. Names can repeat, so check each option against what that person actually says.
the importance of adults giving babies individual attention when talking to them
“‘Those children who listened to a lot of baby talk were talking more than the babies that listened to more adult talk or standard speech,’ says Nairán Ramirez-Esparza of the University of Connecticut. ‘We also found that it really matters whether you use baby talk in a one-on-one context,’ she adds.”
B: Ramirez-Esparza says 'it really matters whether you use baby talk in a one-on-one context', which is individual attention.
the connection between what babies hear and their own efforts to create speech
“‘Finding activation in the motor areas of the brain when infants are simply listening is significant, because it means the baby brain is engaged in trying to talk back right from the start,”
C: Kuhl explains that infants' motor brain areas activate because the baby brain is 'trying to talk back', linking heard speech with attempts to produce it.
the advantage for the baby of having two parents each speaking in a different way
“‘The idea is that a kid gets to practice a certain kind of speech with mom and another kind of speech with dad, so the kid then has a wider repertoire of kinds of speech to practice,’ says VanDam”
A: VanDam suggests a child practises 'a certain kind of speech with mom and another kind with dad', gaining a wider repertoire — the advantage in A.
the connection between the amount of baby talk babies hear and how much vocalising they do themselves
“‘Those children who listened to a lot of baby talk were talking more than the babies that listened to more adult talk or standard speech,’ says Nairán Ramirez-Esparza”
B: children who 'listened to a lot of baby talk were talking more', which directly links the amount heard with the amount produced.
Questions 18–23: Summary Completion
Strategy: Read the summary as a paragraph first to establish the logic, then locate the missing idea in the passage. With a lettered list, confirm the grammar fits.
“Mark VanDam of Washington State University at Spokane and colleagues equipped parents with recording devices and speech-recognition software to study the way they interacted with their youngsters during a normal day”
Researchers 'equipped parents with recording devices and speech-recognition software', so the equipment named is recording devices.
“Dads didn’t raise their pitch or fundamental frequency when they talked to kids”
The finding concerns 'Dads', who 'didn't raise their pitch' when talking to children, so fathers is the group.
“Their role may be rooted in what is called the bridge hypothesis, which dates back to 1975. It suggests that fathers use less familial language to provide their children with a bridge to the kind of speech they’ll hear in public”
The passage names 'the bridge hypothesis', which says fathers' less familial language bridges children to the speech they hear in public.
“The idea is that a kid gets to practice a certain kind of speech with mom and another kind of speech with dad, so the kid then has a wider repertoire of kinds of speech to practice”
The gap needs what the child widens; the text says the child then has 'a wider repertoire of kinds of speech to practice'.
“Scientists from the University of Washington and the University of Connecticut collected thousands of 30-second conversations between parents and their babies, fitting 26 children with audio-recording vests that captured language and sound during a typical eight-hour day”
Twenty-six children wore 'audio-recording vests that captured language and sound', the item the summary mentions.
“when researchers saw the same babies at age two, they found that frequent baby talk had dramatically boosted vocabulary”
Two years later, 'frequent baby talk had dramatically boosted vocabulary', the language measure the gap requires.
Questions 24–26: Matching Information
Strategy: Scan for the idea, not the exact words. The answer is a paragraph letter, and one paragraph may be used more than once unless the instructions say otherwise.
a reference to a change which occurs in babies’ brain activity before the end of their first year.
“a total of 57 babies from two slightly different age groups – seven months and eleven and a half months – were played a number of syllables from both their native language (English) and a non-native tongue (Spanish).”
F: paragraph F describes babies of seven and eleven and a half months scanned for brain activity, all within their first year.
an example of what some parents do for their baby’s benefit before birth
“Most babies start developing their hearing while still in the womb, prompting some hopeful parents to play classical music to their pregnant bellies”
A: paragraph A mentions 'hopeful parents' playing classical music 'to their pregnant bellies', an action taken before birth.
a mention of babies’ preference for the sounds that other babies make
“Researchers from McGill University and Université du Québec à Montréal found that babies seem to like listening to each other rather than to adults”
E: paragraph E reports that 'babies seem to like listening to each other rather than to adults', the preference described in the question.
Learn the question types in this passage
Frequently asked questions
Where does the How Baby Talk Gives Infant Brains A Boost passage come from?
It is Passage 2 of Cambridge IELTS 13 Academic Reading Test 3, and it covers Questions 14–26.
What question types appear in How Baby Talk Gives Infant Brains A Boost?
The passage is tested with Matching Features, Summary Completion, Matching Information. Each type is explained on this page, alongside the answers.
Are these reading answers reliable?
Every answer is paired with the sentence that proves it, so you can check each one against the passage yourself. Use the page after a timed attempt, not instead of one.
Cambridge IELTS is published by Cambridge University Press & Assessment. Band9Prep is not affiliated with Cambridge. This page is an independent study aid: it gives the answer key, the passage evidence and an explanation so you can review an attempt you have already made.