新奇事件簿 男性声音低沉实则为恫吓同性

Scientists have cast new light on why some men have deeper voices than others. It was traditionally thought that males developed a lower pitched voice to attract members of the opposite sex. However, anthropologists at the American college Penn State believe a deep voice was to scare off other males. Researcher David Puts said: "In humans, and possibly other primates¹ too, a low pitched voice evolved primarily to intimidate² other men to make males seem bigger and scarier." He added that: "Human male traits imply physical aggression³ and formidability and seem to provide competitive advantages in fighting or threatening other men more than they help attract women."

科学家发现男性声音低沉原因。人们总以为，男性嗓门低沉是为了吸引异性。然而，宾夕法尼亚州立大学人类学家认为，声音浑厚是为了吓跑同性。研究员大卫·普特认为：“包括人类在内的许多灵长类动物，声音浑厚的主要目的就是要驱走同性，显示其咄咄逼人，强大无比的态势。”他还指出：“男性通常会采用人身攻击，虚声恫吓，让自己在进攻或威胁他人时占据竞争优势，而不是为了吸引女性目光。”

The researchers at Penn State recorded more than 500 men and women speaking. They then played the recordings⁵ back to more than 1,100 different people of both sexes. Male volunteers rated each male recording⁴ for levels of dominance they perceived in the voices. The same recordings were rated by 15 female volunteers for romantic attractiveness. Men similarly rated the women's voices for attractiveness. Most of the men thought the lower-pitched male recordings belonged to a more dominant⁶ man. Dr Puts said women also liked lower-pitched voices, but the pattern of the women's ratings did not lead him to say that the deepness of the male voice was so important to females.

研究员对500多名男女讲话进行录音。将录音重放给1100多名男女志愿者。根据“霸气”水平，男志愿者为男性录音打分。还是同样录音，15名女志愿者根据吸引力打分。根据吸引力，男志愿者为女性录音打分。多数男志愿者认为，霸气男性应声音低沉。普特博士认为，女性也同样喜欢声音低沉，但女性的评分并不一定表明，男性声音低沉对女性有多么重要。

1 primates   

primate的复数

参考例句：

• Primates are alert, inquisitive animals. 灵长目动物是机灵、好奇的动物。
• Consciousness or cerebration has been said to have emerged in the evolution of higher primates. 据说意识或思考在较高级灵长类的进化中已出现。

2 intimidate   

vt.恐吓，威胁

参考例句：

• You think you can intimidate people into doing what you want?你以为你可以威胁别人做任何事？
• The first strike capacity is intended mainly to intimidate adversary.第一次攻击的武力主要是用来吓阻敌方的。

3 aggression   

n.进攻，侵略，侵犯，侵害

参考例句：

• So long as we are firmly united, we need fear no aggression.只要我们紧密地团结，就不必惧怕外来侵略。
• Her view is that aggression is part of human nature.她认为攻击性是人类本性的一部份。

4 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

5 recordings   

n.记录( recording的名词复数 )；录音；录像；唱片

参考例句：

• a boxed set of original recordings 一套盒装原声录音带
• old jazz recordings reissued on CD 以激光唱片重新发行的老爵士乐

6 dominant   

adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因

参考例句：

• The British were formerly dominant in India.英国人从前统治印度。
• She was a dominant figure in the French film industry.她在法国电影界是个举足轻重的人物。