题目

阅读理解 Some words copy the sounds made by the things they describe, like "buzz" or "hiss"or "zip". But what if the way a word sounds could suggest some other feature of an object like its shape? A new study suggests not only that it can but that the same word can do so across many languages. Marcus Perlman, a lecturer at the University of Birmingham, says that, a century ago，linguists（语言学家）insisted the words used to refer to various objects and actions are arbitrary（随意的） and that words don't necessarily look or sound like the things they refer to. That makes sense because different languages have different words for the same thing. One person's pup is another one's perro. But there's a lot of evidence now suggesting it is false. To further explore this connection between words and their meanings, Perlman and his colleagues turned to something called the bouba/kiki effect. With the help of 22 volunteers, the researchers tested it in 25 different languages. Participants were told to look at two shapes-one looks like a cloud which is somewhat round, and the other one is more pointy, maybe looks more like a star-and then listen to the sound: either "bouba" or "kiki", both of which are totally made up. Then they were asked, "Which one is bouba and which one is kiki?" Most participants said the rounder shape was bouba and the pointy one was kiki. This suggests there is some widely observed connection between the spoken words and the visual features of the shapes. As to what that could mean about the evolution（演变）of language： imagine our ancestors when they started using spoken words to refer to things. "They couldn't say 'Listen, my friend, now we're gonna call this new object a table. '" So to get the conversation off the ground, they probably tried to come up with sounds that somehow suggested the object at hand. （1） What does the author mean by saying "One person's pup is another one's perro"? A . People have personal preferences for the words they use. B . A word can mean the same thing across many languages. C . Different languages have different words for the same thing. D . The sound of a word reminds people of the shape of an object. （2） How did Perlman study the connection between words and their meanings? A . By making up new words. B . By interviewing language learners. . C . By conducting an experiment. D . By comparing different languages. （3） What do we know about the bouba/kiki effect? A . It helps people understand language evolution. B . It is a language research method created a century ago. C . It makes little sense when it comes to written language. D . It shows the differences between round and pointy objects. （4） What can be a suitable title for the text? A . What Is the Shape of a Word? B . How Does Language Develop? C . Nonsense Words Connected to Shapes D . Language Features Little Known to Linguists 答案： C C A C

查看本题答案和解析