题目内容：

    About 1.5 billion people speak English around the world. But for more than 1.1 billion of them, English is their second language－often with a noticeable accent (口音).

“Someone’s accent really reveals a lot about who they are and their identity. It will tell people what their native language is and probably where they come from.” says Marc Pell, a communication professor at McGill University in Montreal. And according to Pell, one reaction to it can be a bias (偏见) against that person.

Previous research that has been done elsewhere showed that people who have an accent tend to be trusted less, simply because they have an accent. But accents aren’t the only thing we listen for when we have to decide if we trust another person. Tone of voice also plays a role. Pell and his team wanted to know if people would trust a confident tone, even if it came from someone with an accent.

The researchers had Canadian English speakers listen to different versions of people saying neutral (无明显特性的) statements like “she has access to the building” while they were getting a brain scan in an MRI (磁共振成像) machine. Subjects heard someone say it with a confident tone with a Canadian English accent, an Australian accent or a French accent. Participants also heard the sentence with the three accents spoken in a doubtful or neutral tone.

The MRI scans showed that the participants had to use more brain power to decide if they could trust the statements said with the non-native accents. When the study participants heard the Australian or French accents, blood flow increased to the part of the brain that we use to process sound. They seemed to have to analyze that perhaps more carefully, or for a longer period of time to make this decision about whether they truly believed the speaker, especially when the speaker sounded doubtful. When asked, the participants reported not trusting either Australian or French accents－except when the statements were said confidently. It seems that confidence speaks for itself.

1.What does the underlined word “it” in paragraph 2 refer to?

A.A person’s identity. B.A person’s accent.

C.A person’s hometown. D.A person’s native language.

2.What did Pell’s team want to know?

A.Why some people trust others less.

B.Which parts of the brain deal with sound.

C.What can cause a bias against non-natives.

D.Whether a non-native’s confident tone can gain trust.

3.For the study participants, which of the following might demand the most brain power?

A.A Canadian speaking English in a friendly way.

B.A French person speaking English neutrally.

C.An American speaking English confidently.

D.An Australian speaking English doubtfully.