Question

请阅读下面短文，并根据所读内容在文章后表格中的空格里填入一个最恰当的单词。

注意：请将答案写在答题卡上相应题号的横线上。每个空格只填一个单词。

In workplaces and families across the world, people tend to communicate on the Internet. We send endless emails; we video chat rather than travel across the town to meet. Actually, sitting down and interacting with someone in person can seem like a rare luxury nowadays. But as technology develops, are we losing our ability to connect and empathize (移情) with others?

Empathy is the ability to feel another person’s emotions and understand his/her views. In the past few decades, researchers have emphasized our ability to literally read others. The way we usually try to detect other people’s emotions is through their facial expressions—their eyes in particular. We are told that “the eyes are the windows of the soul, and eye contact is certain critical in empathy.”

However, empathy relies on more than reading facial expressions. New research suggests our voice can greatly help us connect. A new study by Michael Kraus from Yale University has found that our sense of hearing may be even stronger than our sight when it comes to accurately detecting people’s emotions. In other words, you may be able to sense someone’s emotional state even better over the phone than in person. Kraus conducted three experiments to arrive at the conclusion. In all these experiments, the participants gave the best performance when they only heard peoples voices (compared to when they looked at facial expressions alone, or looked at facial expressions and heard voices).

In several follow-up studies, Kraus directed his attention to why the voice is such a powerful mode of empathy. He asked the participants to discuss a difficult work situation over a video conferencing platform using either just the microphone or the microphone and the video. Once again, the participants were more accurate at detecting people’s emotions in voice-only calls. When we only listen to the voice, he found, we simply focus more on the nuances(细微差别) as the speakers express themselves.

How can we get better at interpreting emotions in the voices of our coworkers and loved ones? There isn’t much research so far exploring this question specifically. One study on babies, cries suggested that parents with more musical training were better at distinguishing cries of distress from other types of cries. But, really, we might not need much training. Kraus found that, once you remove other inputs (like facial expressions), your attention naturally sharpens when it comes to voice messages. Besides, the human ability to catch nuances in voices may have offered a strong evolutionary advantage to our ancestors, which helped ensure survival.

You’re more emotionally on the phone
A question to answer	●Nowadays 1. communication has gained great popularity, which dramatically 2. real-life interactions. In such a situation, can we still connect and empathize with others?
A 3. belief about empathy	●Humans tend to understand what other people are4. by detecting their facial expressions, especially from their eyes.
A new study about empathy	●The new study was5. on three experiments, which suggested that the participants were most6. in detecting people's emotions when they only heard their voices.
A(n)7. of the new study	●The voice is a powerful mode of empathy, because it makes people stay 8. on the voice messages.
Other discoveries	●According to a study on babies' cries, musical training is a9. to better ability to listen for empathy. ●The ability to listen was an important reason why our ancestors were able to 10.

Answer

1. online/Internet

2. reduces/decreases

3. traditional/conventional/previous

4. feeling

5. based/dependent

6. accurate/precise

7. explanation/result

8. focused/concentrated

9. contributor

10. survive

【解析】

这是一篇说明文。研究表明人的声音在人与人之间的沟通交流中起着重要的作用。

1.由第一段“In workplaces and families across the world, people tend to communicate on the Internet”(在世界各地的工作场所和家庭中，人们倾向于通过互联网进行交流。)可知，通过互联网交流受到很多人的欢迎。故填 online/Internet。

2.由第一段“Actually, sitting down and interacting with someone in person can seem like a rare luxury nowadays”(事实上，坐下来和别人面对面交流似乎是一种难得的奢侈。)可知，互联网交流减少了人们现实生活的沟通。故填reduces/decreases 。

3.由第二段“In the past few decades, researchers have emphasized our ability to literally read others”(在过去的几十年里，研究人员强调了我们阅读他人的能力。)可知，这是先前对于移情的看法。故填traditional/conventional/previous。

4.由第二段“The way we usually try to detect other people’s emotions is through their facial expressions—their eyes in particular.”(我们通常是通过别人的面部表情——尤其是他们的眼睛——来发现他们的情绪。)可知，人类往往通过观察他人的面部表情来理解他人的感受，特别是从他们的眼睛。故填feeling。

5.由第三段“Kraus conducted three experiments to arrive at the conclusion.”(克劳斯进行了三次实验得出结论。)可知，新研究以三个实验为基础。故填based/dependent。

6.由第五段“In all these experiments, the participants gave the best performance when they only heard peoples voices”(在所有这些实验中，参与者在只听到人们的声音时表现得最好。)可知，参与者只听到他们的声音时，他们最能准确地检测到人们的情绪。故填accurate/precise。

7.由第四段“In several follow-up studies, Kraus directed his attention to why the voice is such a powerful mode of empathy”(一些后续的研究中，克劳斯把他的注意力引向为什么声音有如此强大的移情方式。)可知，克劳斯对为什么声音有如此强大的移情方式进行了解释。故填explanation/result。

8.由第四段“ When we only listen to the voice, he found, we simply focus more on the nuances (细微差别) as the speakers express themselves.”(他发现，当我们只听声音的时候，我们只是把注意力放在说话者表达自己时的细微差别上。)可知，说话的人把注意力集中于声音信息。故填focused/concentrated。

9.由第五段“One study on babies, cries suggested that parents with more musical training were better at distinguishing cries of distress from other types of cries.”(一项关于婴儿、哭声的研究表明，受过更多音乐训练的父母更善于区分悲伤的哭声和其他类型的哭声。)可知，音乐训练有助于提高倾听他人感受的能力。故填contributor。

10.由第五段“Besides, the human ability to catch nuances in voices may have offered a strong evolutionary advantage to our ancestors, which helped ensure survival.(此外，人类捕捉声音细微差别的能力可能为我们的祖先提供了强大的进化优势，这有助于确保生存。)可知，倾听的能力是我们祖先得以生存的一个重要原因。故填survive。