Question

    Psycholinguistics is a field at the intersection (交叉) of psychology and linguistics, and one if its recent discoveries is that the languages we speak influence our eye movements. For example, English speakers who hear candle often look at a candy because the two words share their first syllable. Research with speakers of different languages revealed that bilingual speakers not only look at words that share sounds in one language but also at words that share sounds across their two languages. When Russian-English bilinguals hear the English word marker, they also look at a stamp, because the Russian word for stamp is marka.

Even more surprising, speakers of different languages differ in their patterns of eye movements when no language is used at all. In a simple visual search task in which people had to find a previously seen object among other objects, their eyes moved differently depending on what languages they knew. For example, when looking for a clock, English speakers also looked at a cloud. Spanish speakers, on the other hand, when looking for the same clock, looked at a present, because the Spanish names for clock and present—reloj and regalo—overlap at their onset (开始) .

The story doesn't end there. Not only do the words we hear activate other, similar-sounding words—and not only do we look at objects whose names share sounds or letters even when no language is heard—but the translations of those names in other languages become activated as well in speakers of more than one language. For example when Spanish-English bilinguals hear the word duck in English, they also look at a shovel, because the translations of duck and shovel—pato and pala, respectively—overlap in Spanish.

Because of the way our brain organizes and processes linguistic and nonlinguistic information, a single word can set off a domino effect (多米诺效应) that cascades (像洪水般倾泻) throughout the cognitive system. And this interactivity and co-activation is not limited to spoken languages. Bilinguals of spoken and signed languages show co-activation as well. For example, bilinguals who know American Sign Language and English look at cheese when they hear the English word paper because cheese and paper share three of the four sign components in ASL (hand shape, location and orientation but not motion).

What do findings like these tell us? Not only is the language system thoroughly interactive with a high degree of co-activation across words and concepts, but it also impacts our processing in other areas such as vision, attention and cognitive control. As we go about our everyday lives, how our eyes move, what we look at and what we pay attention to are influenced in direct and measurable ways by the languages we speak.

The implications of these findings for applied settings range from consumer behavior (what we look at in a store) to the military (visual search in complex scenes) and art (what our eyes are drawn to). In other words, it is safe to say that the language you speak influences how you see the world not only figuratively (比喻地) but also quite literally, down to the mechanics of your eye movements.

1.What can we learn from Paragraph 3?

A.Languages we know determine our eye movements.

B.The words we hear remind us of similar words.

C.We look at objects even if no language is heard.

D.Translations of words in other languages can be activated.

2.According to Paragraph 4, the ''domino effect'' is caused by ________.

A.American Sign Language B.brain processes

C.oral languages D.co-activation

3.What can we learn from these findings?

A.Words are closely related to concepts in language system.

B.The combination of words and concepts activates language system.

C.The language we speak influences what we pay attention to.

D.What we speak in everyday lives controls how our eyes move.

Answer

1.D

2.B

3.C

【解析】

这是一篇说明文。文章主要举例说明了最新研究发现我们所说的语言会影响我们眼球的移动。

1.细节理解题。根据第三段的but the translations of those names in other languages become activated as well in speakers of more than one language.可知，这些名字用其他语言翻译会激活说话者超过一种语言。D. Translations of words in other languages can be activated.(用其他语言的单词翻译是可以被激活的)符合以上说法，故选D项。

2.细节理解题。根据第四段的Because of the way our brain organizes and processes linguistic and nonlinguistic information, a single word can set off a domino effect that cascades throughout the cognitive system.(由于我们的大脑组织和处理语言和非语言信息的方式不同，一个单词就可以引发多米诺效应，在整个认知体系中产生连锁反应)可知，多米诺效应是大脑程序产生的。B. brain processes(大脑程序)符合以上说法，故选B项。

3.逻辑推理题。根据倒数第二段的As we go about our everyday lives, how our eyes move, what we look at and what we pay attention to are influenced in direct and measurable ways by the languages we speak.(在日常生活中，我们的眼睛如何移动，我们看什么，我们注意什么，这些都直接地、可衡量地受到我们所说语言的影响)可知，我们所说的语言会影响我们所注意的。C. The language we speak influences what we pay attention to.( 我们所说的语言会影响我们所注意的)符合以上说法，故选C项。