Passage One

Can babies be taught Is it best for their mental development if we teach them as early as possible Educational videos designed to give babies as young as one month an intellectual head start in life are to be launched in Britain. The videos cover music, poetry and use seven languages including Russia, Japanese and Hebrew. The videos have taken American by storm since they were launched three years ago, and now sell more than 1 million copies a year. However, their popularity has sparked controversy among educational psychologists, who are divided as to the possible benefits. Critics fear that the videos will be overused by parents desperate to see their children overtake their peers and warn that such young babies should not be encouraged to watch television. Baby Einstein, the company the videos claims that it is a unique means of stimulating your child’s brain during the critical first years of life. It is not as if the parents buy it anti force their babies to watch it--the babies love it themselves. Leaflets accompanying the video explain that it will not teach babies foreign languages but offers "a greater chance of success" when they start them. Jenni Smith, an educational psychologist said the theories behind the video were valid. It is based on research and the rationale(基本原理) of this is sound. However, other leading experts on early education said that babies are going to make far more progress if they are able to concentrate on the language they hear every day rather than trying to keep going with other languages on the off chance that they might one day learn Hebrew. The video probably say more about the parents’ attitudes and problems. It seems to be passing the responsibility for providing an interesting and stimulating environment for your baby from the parents to the television. They concerned that the videos were an example of "hot housing" and that babies would be aware of their parents’ anxiety for them to succeed. The Sunday Times, a newspaper office, assembled its own judging group of six babies. "Their attention was definitely held. They enjoyed the music and they were fighting to get closest to the screen," said the supervisor of the trial. "Whether they have any educational effect is much harder to say, but I would definitely buy them just because they seem good fun."

The company makes the video claim that the video can ______.