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(语言学)expert in Canada，suggests there is a

more complex mechanism(机制)at play．Dr Molly Babel, from the University of British Columbia in Canada, said，“The voice is an amazingly flexible(灵活的)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(声带)，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．argue against women’s breathy way of speaking

D．compare male voices with female voices

Answer

1.D

2.B

3.C

4.B

5.B

【解析】

试题分析：本文主要讲科学的研究发现，我们会很自然被熟悉的声音所吸引，人们更倾向于类似的口音，而语言学家也表明其中有更复杂的机制在里

1.D 细节理解题。根据第三段提到The people we assessed were all in the same dialect group，but they showed that dialect to different degrees可知他们必须来自同一社会群体，故选D项。

2.B 细节理解题。根据第五段提到She also found that breathy voices in women－typified by the famous American actress Marilyn Monroe－were seen as more attractive她也发现声带发音的典型代表美国玛丽莲梦露的声音更具有吸引力，来证明她的研究发现，故选B项。

3.C 细节推断题。根据倒数第二段提到The breathy tone，caused by younger and thinner vocal cords(声带)，implied youthfulness and health A creaky voice，suggesting a person has a cold，is tired or smokes，was seen as unattractive 可知如果一个人感冒了，累了，抽烟了他的声音不具有吸引力，故选C项。

4.B 推断题。根据最后一段提到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一旦你处在熟悉的环境之外，奇特的异国情调的嗓音听起来比较有吸引力，故选B项。

5.B 主旨大意。本文主要讲科学的研究发现，我们会很自然被熟悉的声音所吸引，人们更倾向于类似的口音，而语言学家也表明其中有更复杂的机制在里，故选B介绍一项最后的研究。

考点：科普类阅读。