It only takes ten minutes, but reading your baby a bedtime story could yield benefits for

years to come, scientists said today. Research shows that children who are【C1】______to a lot are faster at understanding words. This【C2】______processing helps them do better at school— and could【C3】______help them get a good job, have a happy【C4】______and keep on the right side of the law. Psychologist Anne Fernald said that the effects are so【C5】______that talking to children should be【C6】______as importantly as feeding them. And it is never too【C7】______to start. Dr Fernald said: "【C8】______you want your kid to do well in school, talk to them【C9】______a baby. If you bring a child into the world, we【C10】______the responsibility for feeding them, keeping them clean and keeping them safe. I think we now have enough scientific evidence to add something else to that list—and that is【C11】______learning from infancy on. Long before your baby is speaking, it is【C12】______information about language." In a series of studies on babies, Dr Fernald showed that there are big differences in how quickly children process words. Speedy processing is important【C13】______it frees up the brain to think about the next word—or the world【C14】______. Dr Fernald said: "You are building a mind that can conceptualize and【C15】______and think about the past and think about the future." She also showed that children who are【C16】______at understanding words tend to hear more words at home. In her studies, some【C17】______had as few as 600 words a day directly talked to them. To put this in【C18】______, the average adult speaks around 200 words a minute. Other children heard more than 12,000 words. Dr Fernald has also shown that children who can quickly process words at the age of two do better at school at the age of eight. Other research has shown that children who do well in【C19】______school are more likely to go onto higher education, get a good job, re-mam married and stay out of【C20】______.

【C1】

A．listened

B．spoken

C．replied

D．responded