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Practice Listening: Highlight Incorrect Words ID: #50978 Medium Baby Tone
Instructions ›
You will hear a recording. Below is a transcription of the recording. Some words in the transcription differ from what the speaker said. Please click on the words that are different.
* Click on the words that are different from what you hear
Result:
How can you tell the difference between a French baby and a German baby? No, it's not that one is wearing a saucy little beret while the other is tucked into tiny pair of lederhosen. Well, maybe that's part of it. But a new study in the journal Current Biology shows that the babies actually sound different. Because the melody of an infant's cry matches its mother tongue. We all know that babies start eavesdropping while they're still in the womb. So when they come out, they know their mother's voice. When they're older, they start to imitate the sounds they hear, Eventually they babble, and then start to speak, and then you never hear the end of it. But long before that first burble or coo, babies are learning the elements of language. A team of scientists recorded the cries of 60 newborns: 30 born into French-speaking families and 30 that heard German. And they found that French infants wail on a rising note while the Germans favor a falling melody.
AI explanationShows the answer. Tap to open.
Printed "opportunely", the speaker says "actually"

Explanation: Listen again to "babies actually sound different". The printed and spoken words start with different letters, though they end the same.

Printed "equaling", the speaker says "eavesdropping"

Explanation: In the audio you hear "babies start eavesdropping while". Both words start with the same letter, and the word you hear is much longer.

Printed "unquestionably", the speaker says "Eventually"

Explanation: Here the speaker says "Eventually they babble". They start with different letters, so wait for the whole word.

Printed "barking", the speaker says "learning"

Explanation: The speaker says "babies are learning the elements", not "barking". "Barking" makes no sense here, so trust the audio.

Printed "novelising", the speaker says "French speaking"

Explanation: Listen for "born into French-speaking families". The printed word looks very different and has different first letters.

"Current" matches the audio

Explanation: "the journal Current Biology" has a common name you might think is odd. It is exactly what the speaker says, so do not click it.

"beret" matches the audio

Explanation: "a saucy little beret" is a familiar word and looks like a trick. The speaker says it exactly as printed, so do not click it.

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