【高二 拓展阅读-文化】Why You say Um before Certain Words

WhyYousay“Um”beforeCertainWords?Ifyoupaycloserattentiontothosemomentswhenan“um”,an“uh”oranawkwardpauseinsertsitselfintoyourconversation,youmaynoticethattheflub(失误)usuallycomesjustbeforeanoun,accordingtoanewstudy.Researchersfoundthatwhenpeopleareinmid-sentenceandawordispronouncedmoreslowly,orseemsjustbeyondtheirgrasp,thatwordismorelikelytobeanounthanaverb.Thismighthappenbecausevisualisingnounsbeforewesaythemtemporarilyslowsourspeech,whileactionwordslikeverbsrequirelesstimeto“see”inourmindsbeforetheyleaveourmouths,thestudyauthorssaid.Thecomplexinteractionofvariousfactorsshapesthespeedofaperson’sspeechandthesefactorsincludethefrequencyandfamiliarity(熟悉)ofthewordsused,theresearcherswroteinthestud.Infact,scientistshavepreviouslyobservedthatpausesprecedingunfamiliarorcomplicatedwordsreflectthecomparativedifficultyofplanningthosewords,leadstudyauthorFrankSeifart,aresearcherwiththeDepartmentofLiteraryStudiesandLinguisticsattheUniversityofAmsterdamintheNetherlands，toldLiveScienceinanemail.Forthenewstudy，theresearchersanalysedthousandsofspeechrecordings，listeningfortherhythmsof288，848wordsintotal，fromphrasesinninediverselanguagesspokeninEurope，NorthAmerica，Mexico，Siberia，theHimalayas，theAmazonrainforestandtheKalahariDesert.Inallninelanguages，thescientistsfoundthatpauses--whethersilentor“filled”withaplaceholder（占位符）sound-were60percentmorelikelytooccurbeforenounsthanbeforeverbs，Theresearchersfurtherfoundthatpeopleweretwiceaslikelytohemandhaw（支支吾吾）beforesayinganounthantheywerebeforeutteringaverb，eveniftheverbwascomplexorunfamiliar.Incommonspeech，nounsaretypicallyusedonlywhentheyaddinformationthatisneworunexpected；otherwisetheyarefrequentlyomittedorreplacedwithpronouns，theresearcherssaid.Therefore，peopleneedmore“planningtime”tosaynounsthanverbs，evenwhenthenounsinquestionaren’tparticularlycomplicated，theresearchersnotedinthestudy.Theirfindingssuggestedthateventhoughthelanguagesdemonstratedsignificantdiversityingrammaticalstructureandculturalcontext，certainspeechrhythmspersistentlyfollowedstronguniversalpatterns-andthosepatternscanbelinkedtotheuseofnounsorverbs.Seifartsaidintheemail.ReadingComprehensionChoosethecorrectanswerforeachquestion.1.Wheredoesanawkwardpauseusuallyhappeninyourconversation?A.Beforeanadverb.B.Beforeanadjective.C.Beforeanoun.D.Beforeaverb.2.WhyisitmorelikelytobeanounthanaverbwhenawordispronouncedmoreslowlyA.Becausevisualisingverbsbeforewesaythemmayslowourspeech.B.Becausewearemorefamiliarwithactionwordslikeverbsthanwithnouns.C.Becausenounsrequiremoretimeto“see”inourmindsbeforewesaythem.D.Becausenounsaremorecomplicatedinspellingandlessfrequentlyused.3.WhoisFrankSeifart?A.Ateacher.B.Aresearcher.C.Astudent.D.Ascholar.4.Howmanywordsdidtheresearcherslistenfortherhythms?A.288,448.B.288,848.C.248848.D.284.848.5.WhichinformationisNOTmentionedinthisarticle?A.Theflubusuallycomesjustbeforeanoun.B.Nounsaretypicallyusedonlywhentheyaddinformation.C.Peopleneedmoreplanningtimetosaynounsthanverbs.D.Apersonoftenpausesbeforeanunfamiliarverb.Vocabulary基础词awkward adj.令人尴尬的，别扭的；笨拙的；局促不安的英makingyoufeelembarrassedpause n./vi.停顿，暂停；中止例Thecarefulspypausedatthedoorandlookedbackbeforehewentintotheroom.那个谨慎的间谍进屋之前在门口停住了并向身后望了一下。grasp n./vt.领会；掌握；抓住；抓紧；控制英understandingofsthdifficult记联想记忆：他见到她宛如抓住（grasp）-根救命稻草（grass）例Thequestionisbeyondthegraspofher.这个问题超出了她的理解能力。complexadj.复杂的，难懂的；复合的n.建筑群；相关联的一组事物；情结记词根记忆：com（表加强）+plex（重叠）→互相重叠的→复杂的搭complexmedicalinstruments复杂的医疗器械rhythm n.节奏，韵律；有规律的变化英astrongregularrepeatedpatternofsounds记联想记忆：音乐好听的原因（reason）是有节奏（（rhythm）搭therhythmofthemusic音乐的节奏diverse adj.不同的；各不相同的；多种多样的英variedordifferent记词根记忆：di(分开）vers(转）+e→分开转会产生很多变化→不同的；多种多样的omit vt.遗漏；省略记联想记忆：om（音似：呕）+it（它）→把它呕出去→省略例Pleasedon’tomitanydetails，nomatterhowtrivialtheymayseem.请不要遗漏任何细节，无论它们看起来多么微不足道。universal adj.普遍的；通用的；全世界的；宇宙的英existingeverywhereorinvolvingeveryone记词根记忆：uni（一个）+vers（转）+a(…的）+一个旋转着的宇宙→宇宙的搭universalphenomenon普遍现象Vocabulary进阶词insert vt.插入记词根记忆：in（在…里面）+sert（插入）→放在里面→插入例Nowinsertthekeyinthelock.现在把钥匙插到锁孔里。conversationn.交谈，会话英aninformaltalkinwhichpeopleexchangenews，feelings，andthoughts记来自converse（vi.交谈，会话）visualisev.构思，设想；想象，使形象化记词根记忆：vis（看）+ual（…的）+ise（使…）→使…看见→想象，使形象化例Anarchitectcantakealookatadrawingandvisualisetheshapeofthebuilding.建筑师看一眼设计图，就能想象出建筑物的形状。temporarily adv.临时地，暂时地英lastingorintendedtolastorbeusedonlyforashorttimefrequencyn.频繁；频率搭frequencyrange频率范围previously adv.先前，以前英beforethepresenttimeorthetimereferredtocomparativeadj.比较的；比较级的；相对的n.比较级记词根记忆：com（共同）+par（相等）+ative（…的）→放在一起看看是否相等→比较的linguistics n.语言学搭comparativelinguistics比较语言学utter vt.出声；说adj.完全的英tosaysthortomakeaso