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 male or female 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 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 range from 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, and 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. compare male voices with female voices

B. inform readers of the new findings of 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. explain a breathy voice

B. introduce a creaky 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】B

【2】A

【3】D

【4】C

【解析】這篇文章主要講了科學研究表明我們會很自然地被熟悉的聲音所吸引，人們更傾向于類似的口音，而語言學家也表明其中有更復雜的機制在里面。

【1】寫作意圖題。這篇文章主要講了科學研究發現表明我們會很自然地被熟悉的聲音所吸引，人們更傾向于類似的口音，而語言學家也表明其中有更復雜的機制在里面。所以作者寫這篇文章的目的是告訴讀者關于聲音的新的發現，選B。

【2】細節理解題。由She also found that breathy voices in women—typified by the famous American actress Marilyn Monroe-were seen as more attractive.可知Dr Molly Babel提到Marilyn Monroe是為了解釋帶呼吸聲的聲音，選A。

【3】細節理解題。由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.可知按照聲音的偏愛，新的發現強調了相同的社會團體，選D。

【4】推理判斷題。由A creaky (咯吱作響的) voice, suggesting a person has a cold, is tired or smokes, was seen as unattractive.可知低沉干啞的嗓音，可能不受歡迎，選C。