WhentheViaductdeMillauopenedinthesouthofFrancein2004,thistallestbridgeintheworldwonworldwideaccolades.Germannewspapersdescribedhowit“floatedabovetheclouds”with“eleganceandlightness”and“breathtaking”beauty.InFrance,paperspraisedthe“immense”“concretegiant.”WasitmerecoincidencethattheGermanssawbeautywheretheFrenchsawheftandpower?LeraBorodiskythinksnot.Inaseriesofcleverexperimentsguidedbypointedquestions,Boroditskyisamassingevidencethat,yes,languageshapesthought.Theeffectispowerfulenough,shesays,that“theprivatementallivesofspeakersofdifferentlanguagesmaydifferdramatically,”notonlywhentheyarethinkinginordertospeak,“butinallmannerofcognitivetasks,”includingbasicsensoryperception.“Evenasmallflukeofgrammar”—thegenderofnouns—“canhaveaneffectonhowpeoplethinkaboutthingsintheworld,”shesays. Asinthatbridge,inGerman,thenounforbridge,Brucke,isfeminine.InFrench,pontismasculine.Germanspeakerssawprototypicallyfemalefeatures;Frenchspeakers,masculineones.Similarly,Germansdescribekeys(Schlussel)withwordssuchashard,heavy,jagged,andmetal,whiletoSpaniardskeys(llaves)aregolden,intricate,little,andlovely.Guesswhichlanguageconstrueskeyasmasculineandwhichasfeminine?Grammaticalgenderalsoshapeshowweconstrueabstractions.In85percentofartisticdepictionsofdeathandvictory,forinstance,theideaisrepresentedbyamanifthenounismasculineandawomanifitisfeminine,saysBoroditsky.Germanstendtopaintdeathasmale,andRussianstendtopaintitasfemale.Languageevenshapeswhatwesee.Peoplehaveabettermemoryforcolorsifdifferentshadeshavedistinctnames—notEnglish?slightblueanddarkblue,forinstance,butRussian?sgoluboyandsinly.Skepticsofthelanguage-shapes-thoughtclaimhavearguedthatthat?satrivialfinding,showingonlythatpeoplerememberwhattheysawinbothavisualformandaverbalone,butnotprovingthattheyactuallyseethehuesdifferently.Inaningeniousexperiment,however,Boroditskyandcolleaguesshowedvolunteersthreecolorswatchesandaskedthemwhichofthebottomtwowasthesameasthetopone.NativeRussianspeakerswerefasterthanEnglishspeakerswhenthecolorshaddistinctnames,suggestingthathavinganameforsomethingallowsyoutoperceiveitmoresharply.Similarly,Koreanusesonewordfor“in”whenoneobjectisinanothersnugly,andadifferentonewhenanobjectisinsomethingloosely.Sureenough,KoreanadultsarebetterthanEnglishspeakersatdistinguishingtightfitfromloosefit.Sciencehasonlyscratchedthesurfaceofhowlanguageaffectsthought.InRussian,verbformsindicatewhethertheactionwascompletedornot—asin“sheate[andfinished]thepizza.”InTurkish,verbsindicatewhethertheactionwasobservedormerelyrumored.BoroditskywouldlovetorunanexperimenttestingwhethernativeRussianspeakersarebetterthanothersatnoticingifanactioniscompleted,andifTurkshaveaheightenedsensitivitytofactversushearsay.Similarly,whileEnglishsays“shebrokethebowl”evenifitsmashedaccidentally,SpanishandJapanesedescribethesameeventmorelike“thebowlbrokeitself.”“Whenweshowpeoplevideoofthesameevent,”saysBoroditsky,“Englishspeakersrememberwhowastoblameeveninanaccident,butSpanishandJapanesespeakersrememberitlesswellthantheydointentionalactions.Itraisesquestionsaboutwhetherlanguageaffectsevensomethingasbasicashowweconstructourideasofcausality.” Whichofthefollowingisclosestinmeaningtotheunderlinedword“accolades”inPARAGRAPHONE?
A.Praises. B.Awards. C.Support. D.Gratitude.正确答案A
