文章大意:本文是一篇说明文。很多研究证明,我们在学习第二语言并使用其与别人交流时,会变得很迟钝。任何学过第二语言的人都会感觉到这一点。这是因为我们在理解上比较慢,头脑中没有相关的经历,只有一个简单的图像。
An American friend recently told me of a reunion with the son of the German family whose home he had lived in for a year as an exchange student. My friend had spent the year acquiring fluent German, which he spoke to the family. The reunion, several decades later, took place among a crowd who were speaking English. Afterward, the German son said to my friend, “I never realized you were witty.” Because in German, he never was. It was too hard to joke in a foreign tongue. Anyone who has learnt another language will be familiar with this. We are more ponderous(沉闷的) in our acquired language. We are slower on the understanding, having to construct each reply in advance.
But is it also possible that we make more dispassionate(不带感情的) decisions when thinking in a foreign language? Academics at the University of Chicago think we do. Writing in the journal Cognition, they describe a well-known moral dilemma. You are watching a runaway carriage dashing down a railway. In its path you see five people tied to the track. On your left is a large man. If you push him into the carriage's path, you will kill him but save the five. Do you do it? The Chicago academics put the dilemma to a group of 800 native German speakers. About half considered the dilemma in German and half in English. Those people answering in their second language were more likely to favor pushing the man onto the track. To the Chicago faculty, this was no surprise. There have been several experiments, with similar results, about the effect of language on the track dilemma, with native speakers of English, Korean, Spanish, French, Hebrew, German and Italian.
The question the Chicago team try to answer in the cognition study is why the change happens when people decide in another language. Their hypothesis is that we visualize people and objects more sharply in our native tongue and this affects our decision-making. In particular, when thinking in our own language, we can clearly picture the large man and are reluctant to push him to his death. Why should this be? The Chicago study argues that the images we form in our minds are based on the memories we have of people and objects. Because we have more experience of people in our native language, we find it easier to picture them.
To test this, they asked 359 native English speakers to imagine various scenarios and objects—a sunset, hands-clapping, the feeling of sand, running upstairs, the taste of salt, the smell of paint, a sore throat—and to rate the intensity of the feeling. Half did the experiment in English, half in Spanish, their second language. Those who did it in English reported more vivid sunsets, handclaps, sand and step-running than those who answered in Spanish. There was little difference for sore throats and none for paint or salt.
The Chicago team thought people had more vivid images in their native English because they were more likely to tap into their memories than if they did the thinking in another language. However, the reason why the smell and taste images were sharp in Spanish might have been that the English speakers had rich associations of flavorful Mediterranean cuisine.
Generally, the use of a foreign language reduces vividness because it limits access to memories. How seriously should we take this? An increasing number of people are now working in organizations that operate in English, mixing native and second-language speakers. It is certainly worth thinking about whether people seem more considered, and make more dispassionate decisions in English than the native speakers do. The non-native speakers may seem less witty but pay more attention to their opinions.
12. Why does the author mention his friend in the first paragraph?
A.To argue that learning a second language is beneficial at workplace. |
B.To tell us that people often find it too hard to joke in a foreign tongue. |
C.To compare the differences between telling jokes in different languages. |
D.To indicate that speaking foreign languages makes people more careful. |
13. Which of the following statements about the moral dilemma experiment is TRUE?
A.Those people answering in native language are more unwilling to kill the man. |
B.800 native German speakers were asked to give their answers in English. |
C.People were required to consider the dilemma in four different languages. |
D.People can’t picture the large man when judging the dilemma in English. |
14. The Chicago team believe ________.
A.a foreign language usually provides a more in-born mode of thinking |
B.people can easily tap into their memories when communicating in English |
C.using a foreign language creates a plain image for a lack of related experience |
D.the taste images are sharp in Spanish because people eat much Spanish cuisine |
15. Which of the following statements would the author most likely agree with?
A.Organizations need to hire more non-native English speakers. |
B.People should relate to more memories in a second language. |
C.We should communicate in foreign languages at work. |
D.The non-native speakers are likely to be more attentive. |