Question

We are naturally drawn to friends and colleagues with familiar voices, scientists have found．People prefer those who have a similar accent，intonation and tone of voice to themselves , they discovered．

Previous research has focused on how masculine or feminine a voice sounds．Men with deeper voices and women with slightly higher voices were thought to sound more attractive，because they suggest a bigger or a smaller body．

But the new study，published by a linguistics(語(yǔ)言學(xué))expert in Canada，suggests there is a

more complex mechanism(機(jī)制)at play．Dr Molly Babel, from the University of British Columbia in Canada, said，“The voice is an amazingly flexible(靈活的)tool that we use to construct our identity．Very few things in our voices are changeless，so we felt that our preferences had to be about more than a person’s shape and size．’’

She recorded 30 volunteers’ voices and asked each to rate the others’ attractiveness on a scale of one to nine．Each participant was from western America，with similar accents．The people we assessed were all in the same dialect group，but they showed that dialect to different degrees．

“We seem to like people who sound like we sound，we like people who fit within what we know，”Dr Babel said．She also found that breathy voices in women－typified by the famous American actress Marilyn Monroe－were seen as more attractive．

The breathy tone，caused by younger and thinner vocal cords(聲帶)，implied youthfulness

and health A creaky voice，suggesting a person has a cold，is tired or smokes，was seen as unattractive．The participants preferred men who spoke with a shorter average word length and deeper voices．

The linguist，whose work is published in the journal PLOS One，said，“Once you’re outside of a certain range of familiarity，novel and exotic sounding voices might become more attractive．We also have to keep in mind we find some accents more preferable than others because of social fixed ideas．”

1.In terms of voice preferences，the new findings highlight_______.

A．body size and shape B．shorter word length

C．thicker vocal cords D．the same social groups

2.Dr. Molly Babel mentions Marilyn Monroe in order to________.

A．evaluate a creaky voice

B．explain her new findings

C．challenge previous research

D．promote the actress’s reputation

3.According to the passage，who would most probably have a creaky voice?

A．An old lady with a silvery voice．

B．A young lady with a thin voice．

C．A deep-voiced man with a dry throat．

D．A little man with a quiet and gentle voice．

4.What can be inferred from the last paragraph?

A．People favor familiar accents when in a new place．

B．People might have a preference for different accents．

C．Voice preferences have no link to long-held belief．

D．Voice preferences are influenced by sex differences．

5.The main purpose of the passage is to________.

A．encourage men to use shorter words and talk less

B．inform readers of the findings of voices

C．a(chǎn)rgue against women’s breathy way of speaking

D．compare male voices with female voices

 

Answer 1

1.D

2.B

3.C

4.B

5.B

【解析】

試題分析：本文主要講科學(xué)的研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，我們會(huì)很自然被熟悉的聲音所吸引，人們更傾向于類似的口音，而語(yǔ)言學(xué)家也表明其中有更復(fù)雜的機(jī)制在里

1.D 細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)第三段提到The people we assessed were all in the same dialect group，but they showed that dialect to different degrees可知他們必須來(lái)自同一社會(huì)群體，故選D項(xiàng)。

2.B 細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)第五段提到She also found that breathy voices in women－typified by the famous American actress Marilyn Monroe－were seen as more attractive她也發(fā)現(xiàn)聲帶發(fā)音的典型代表美國(guó)瑪麗蓮夢(mèng)露的聲音更具有吸引力，來(lái)證明她的研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，故選B項(xiàng)。

3.C 細(xì)節(jié)推斷題。根據(jù)倒數(shù)第二段提到The breathy tone，caused by younger and thinner vocal cords(聲帶)，implied youthfulness and health A creaky voice，suggesting a person has a cold，is tired or smokes，was seen as unattractive 可知如果一個(gè)人感冒了，累了，抽煙了他的聲音不具有吸引力，故選C項(xiàng)。

4.B 推斷題。根據(jù)最后一段提到Once you’re outside of a certain range of familiarity，novel and exotic sounding voices might become more attractive．We also have to keep in mind we find some accents more preferable than others because of social fixed ideas一旦你處在熟悉的環(huán)境之外，奇特的異國(guó)情調(diào)的嗓音聽(tīng)起來(lái)比較有吸引力，故選B項(xiàng)。

5.B 主旨大意。本文主要講科學(xué)的研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，我們會(huì)很自然被熟悉的聲音所吸引，人們更傾向于類似的口音，而語(yǔ)言學(xué)家也表明其中有更復(fù)雜的機(jī)制在里，故選B介紹一項(xiàng)最后的研究。

考點(diǎn)：科普類閱讀。