Question

【題目】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 a male or female 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 expert in Canada, suggests there is a more complex mechanism(機制)at play. Dr Molly Babel, from the University of British Columbia in Canada, said, “The voice is an amazingly flexible 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 (咯吱作響的)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.

【1】The main purpose of the text is to ___________.

A. inform readers of the new findings of voices

B. compare male voices with female voices

C. argue against women’s voices of speaking

D. encourage men to use deeper voices to speak

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

A. introduce a creaky voice B. explain a breathy voice

C. challenge previous research D. promote her reputation

【3】In terms of voice preferences, the new findings stress ________.

A. body size and shape

B. shorter word length

C. thicker vocal cords

D. the same social groups

【4】Whose voice may be unattractive according to the text?

A. A young lady with a thin voice

B. An old lady with a silvery voice

C. A deep-voiced man with a dry throat

D. A little man with a quiet and gentle voice

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】A

【2】B

【3】D

【4】C

【解析】本文只要介紹了對聲音的研究。發(fā)現(xiàn)相比于以前的主要集中于男性或女性的聲音怎樣的研究外，人們更喜歡那些有著相似口音、語調(diào)和語調(diào)的人。

【1】A主旨題。本文主要介紹了對于聲音的研究的一些新的發(fā)現(xiàn)，故選A。

【2】B細節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)文章第五段最后She also found that breathy voices in women—typified by the famous American actress Marilyn Monroe —were seen as more attractive.作者以Marilyn Monroe的聲音為例解釋了什么樣的聲音是breathy voice。故選B。

【3】D推理判斷題。根據(jù)文章第一段的內(nèi)容可知人們很自然地會被那些熟悉的聲音所吸引。所以可以推測出新的研究強調(diào)人們更喜歡那些有著相似口音、語調(diào)和語調(diào)的人。故選D。

【4】C細節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)文章最后一段A creaky (咯吱作響的）voice, suggesting a person has a cold, is tired or smokes, was seen as unattractive.可知破舊的聲音，聲音低沉，喉嚨干燥被視為缺乏吸引力。故選C。