peopleappeartoborntocompute.Thenumericalskillsofchildrendevelopsoearlyandsoinexorably(坚定地)thatitiseasytoimagineaninternalclockofmathematicalmaturityguidingtheirgrowth.Notlongafterlearningtowalkandtalk,theycansetthetablewithimpressaccuracy---oneknife,onespoon,onefork,foreachofthefivechairs.Soontheyarecapableofnothingthattheyhaveplacedfiveknives,spoonsandforksonthetableand,abitlater,thatthisamountstofifteenpiecesofsilverware.Havingthusmasteredaddition,theymoveontosubtraction.Itseemsalmostreasonabletoexpectthatifachildweresecludedonadesertislandatbirthandretrievedsevenyearslater,heorshecouldenterasecondenterasecond-grademathematicsclasswithoutanyseriousproblemsofintellectualadjustment.
Ofcourse,thetruthisnotsosimple.Thiscentury,theworkofcognitivepsychologistshasilluminatedthesubtleformsofdailylearningonwhichintellectualprogressdepends.Childrenwereobservedastheyslowlygrasped----or,asthecasemightbe,bumpedinto----conceptsthatadultstakeforquantityisunchangedaswaterpoursfromashortglassintoatallthinone.Psychologistshavesincedemonstratedthatyoungchildren,askedtocountthepencilsinapile,readilyreportthenumberofblueorredpencils,butmustbecoaxed(说服)intofindingthetotal.Suchstudieshavesuggestedthattherudiments(基本原理)ofmathematicsaremasteredgradually,andwitheffort.Theyhavealsosuggestedthattheveryconceptofabstractnumbers-----theideaofaoneness,atwoness,atwonessthatappliestoanyclassofobjectsandisaprerequisite(先决条件)fordoinganythingmoremathematicallydemandingthansettingatable----isitselffarfrominnate.
练习题：
Choosecorrectanswerstothequestion:
1.Afterchildrenhavehelpedtosetthetablewithimpressiveaccuracy,they______.
A.areabletohelpparentsservedishes
B.tendtodomorecomplicatedhousework
C.areabletofigureoutthetotalpieces
D.canenterasecond-grademathematicsclass
2.Itis_____tobelievethatthequalityofwaterkeepsunchangedwhenitiscontainedintwodifferentglasses.
A.easytopersuadechildren
B.hardformostchildren
C.theinnateofmostchildren
D.difficultforbothadultsandchildren
3.Itcanbeinferredfromthepassagethatchildrenarelikelyto_____whentheyareaskedtocountalltheballsofdifferentcolors
A.givetheaccurateanswer
B.counttheballsofeachcolor
C.betooconfusedtodoanything
D.makeminormistakes
4.Accordingtothispassage,_____ismasteredbybirth.
A.theabilitytosurviveinadesertisland
B.thewayofsettingtables
C.thebasicprinciplesofmathematics
D.theconceptofoneness
5.What’stheauthor‘sattitudetowards“children’snumericalskills”