"How to Grow Your Baby's Brain" Reading Assessment Practice

The main point of this passage is to:

• 1. illustrate the importance of genetics in the formation of a baby’s brain.

• 1. illustrate the importance of stimulation and experience in the formation of a baby’s brain.

• 1. indicate the great need for conducting further research on babies’ brains.

• 1. compare the latest research on babies’ brains with similar research conducted fifteen years ago.

Answer explanation

The best answer is B because throughout the passage, the author focuses primarily on "how experiences after birth, rather than something innate, determine the actual wiring of the human brain" (lines 29-31). The third, fourth, and fifth paragraphs particularly focus on this topic by showing how "early-childhood experiences exert a dramatic and precise impact" (lines 35-36) on the brain's circuits and how "experience seems to exert its effects by strengthening synapses" (lines 54-55). The author goes on to say that the way to reinforce these developing synapses "has come to be known as stimulation" (lines 59-60).

The main point made in the second, third, and fourth paragraphs (lines 14–52) is that the structure of a baby’s brain:

• 1. is genetically determined before the child is born.

• 1. can be seen through positron-emission tomography.

• 1. can be altered through a process known as pruning.

• 1. is still developing after the child is born.

Answer explanation

The best answer is D. Information in each of the three paragraphs (second, third, and fourth), reinforces the author's point that the structure of the baby's brain is still developing: "the brain of a baby is still forming long after the child has left the womb" (lines 24-25); "experiences after birth, rather than something innate, determine the actual wiring of the human brain" (lines 29-31); "In the first months of life, the number of synapses will increase 20-fold" (lines 48-50).

According to the passage, one thing PET allows neurobiologists to do is:

• 1. observe activity in the frontal cortex of a baby’s brain.

• 1. determine the number of genes involved in the formation of a baby’s brain.

• 1. control the release of neurotransmitters in a baby’s auditory cortex.

• 1. restore microscopic connections in a baby’s brain.

Answer explanation

The best answer is A. Support for this choice is in the second paragraph, which clearly shows that with PET, a neurobiologist can watch "regions of the baby's brain turn on" (line 17) and "observe the visual cortex burn with activity" (lines 21-22).

When she compares a baby’s brain to city neighborhoods, the author is most nearly illustrating her point that:

• 1. neurotransmitters are actually brain chemicals.

• 1. regions of the brain are awakened through experience.

• 1. the visual cortex allows a baby to recognize specific images.

• 1. a baby’s brain has about 1,000 trillion synapses.

Answer explanation

The best answer is B. In the second paragraph, the author uses the analogy of restoring electricity to city neighborhoods after a blackout to help explain how a neurobiologist, by using PET, can watch "regions of a baby's brain turn on, one after another" (line 17) as the baby grows older and has more and more experiences.

Which of the following would the author of the passage be LEAST likely to recommend as a way to strengthen the synapses of a baby’s brain?

• 1. Reading to a baby.

• 1. Playing peekaboo with a baby.

• 1. Teaching a baby with flashcards.

• 1. Showing a baby how to distinguish red socks from blue blocks.

Answer explanation

The best answer is C. This question asks the test taker to choose the LEAST likely way to strengthen a baby's synapses. Lines 61-62 clearly state that "stimulation does not mean subjecting a toddler to flashcards." This suggests that flashcards are not the preferred way to strengthen brain connections.