首页
登录
职称英语
Some interesting recent research by a team from MRC Applied Psychology Unit
Some interesting recent research by a team from MRC Applied Psychology Unit
游客
2023-11-21
64
管理
问题
Some interesting recent research by a team from MRC Applied Psychology Unit at Cambridge analysed the sound structure of a large number of first names, and found some interesting differences between men and women. It seems the sexes do not sound the same. The claims are of course limited by the size of their sample--1,667 entries taken from a dictionary of English first names--but the claims they make can easily be checked against our intuitions, and they seem very plausible:
-- Female first names tend to be longer than males, in terms of the number of syllables they contain. Males are much more likely to have a monosyllabic first name (Bob, Jim Fred, Frank, John), and much less likely to have a name of three or more syllables (Christopher, Nicholas). By contrast, there are few monosyllabic female names in the list (Ann, Joan, May) , and many of them are trisyllabic or more ( Katherine, Elizabeth, Amanda).
-- 95% of male names have a first syllable which is strongly stressed, whereas only 75% of female names show this pattern. It is not difficult to think of female names which begin with an unstressed syllable (Patricia, Elizabeth, Rebecca, Michelle), but male names are few and far between (Jerome, Dementrius). In fact, none of the popular British male names in top-2-1ists from the past 75 years has had an unstressed initial syllable--and only three American names.
-- The stressed syllables of female names tend to make much more use of the high front vowel / I/, such as Lisa, Tina, Celia, Maxine, and the archetypal Fifi and Mimi. Male names in /I/ are far less common (Steve, Keith, Peter).
-- Female pet names tend to be longer than male. A dissyllabic pet name could be either male or female, but a monosyllabic one is much more likely to be male. Jackie could be either sex, but Jack is male. Several other pairs share this expectancy, such as Bill /Billie and Bob/Bollie.
-- Female names are much more likely to end in a vowel, as with Linda, Judy, Deborah, Barbara. If not a vowel, the last sound will very likely be a continuant, especially a nasal (Jean, Kathleen, Sharon, Ann). By contrast, plosives are much more likely to be found in male endings (Bob, David, Dick, Jack).
It is of course difficult, perhaps impossible, to explain these trends. Could the sound-symbolic associations of /I/, such as smallness and brightness, explain the bias of that vowel? Can we relate the trend towards use of an initial stressed syllable to greater masculine aggressiveness? One thing is sure: it is much more difficult to generalize safely about female names. Popular male names are used much more predictably. There are several male names which have appeared on every list of the top 20 names in recent times (e. g. John, David), but no one female name appears on all lists. People are much readier to be inventive and different with female names. [br] The writer adopts a (n) ______ tone to report the findings of the research in the sound structure of first names.
选项
A、assertive
B、doubtful
C、authoritative
D、cautious
答案
D
解析
作者在第一段中认为剑桥大学的这一研究的结果符合直觉判断,很有道理,但他同时承认研究的调查样本比较小,只对1667个英语名做了分析研究,并在措辞上两处使用了seem这个词,综合分析可知此题应选D。
转载请注明原文地址:https://tihaiku.com/zcyy/3207487.html
相关试题推荐
Asheappliedsunscreentohisyoungdaughter’sface,DaraO’Rourke,professor
Asheappliedsunscreentohisyoungdaughter’sface,DaraO’Rourke,professor
Asheappliedsunscreentohisyoungdaughter’sface,DaraO’Rourke,professor
Asheappliedsunscreentohisyoungdaughter’sface,DaraO’Rourke,professor
Asheappliedsunscreentohisyoungdaughter’sface,DaraO’Rourke,professor
Asheappliedsunscreentohisyoungdaughter’sface,DaraO’Rourke,professor
Inrecentyearsmoreandmorecompanieshaveinvolvedinthetideofincorp
Inrecentyearsmoreandmorecompanieshaveinvolvedinthetideofincorp
Inrecentyearsmoreandmorecompanieshaveinvolvedinthetideofincorp
Inrecentyearsmoreandmorecompanieshaveinvolvedinthetideofincorp
随机试题
Afterthebirthofmysecondchild,Igotajobatarestaurant.Havingwork
COSCOEDISystem1Between1996and1997,COSCOhasfinished
ThehotelTerrystayedatcanbedescribedas______.[br][originaltext]Present
石灰工业废渣稳定土中,应用最多、最广的是(),简称二灰稳定土。A.石灰粉类的稳
(2016年真题)某投资者A预测股票市场将下跌,于是卖出当月沪深300股指期货合
末屏接地线不应采用编织软铜线,末屏接地线的长度、强度均应符合相关标准。
下列关于信用证的性质的说法错误的是()。A:独立于贸易合同 B:信用证业务只处
(2021年上半年真题)干支是天干和地支的合称。以十干同十二支循环相配,古代用来
A.玄参 B.苦参 C.当归 D.丹参 E.射干老根外皮疏松,多显紫棕色
A.易感人口迁入 B.全球气候变暖 C.计划免疫 D.城市流动人口增加
最新回复
(
0
)