单选题 Someoftheadvantagesofbilingualismincludebetterperformanceattasksinvolving"executivefunction"(whichinvolvesthebrain’sabilitytoplanandprioritize),betterdefenseagainstdementiainoldageand—theobvious—theabilitytospeakasecondlanguage.Onepurportedadvantagewasnotmentioned,though.Manymultilingualsreportdifferentpersonalities,orevendifferentworldviews,whentheyspeaktheirdifferentlanguages.(2)It’sanexcitingnotion,theideathatone’sveryselfcouldbebroadenedbythemasteryoftwoormorelanguages.Inobviousways(exposuretonewfriends,literatureandsoforth)theselfreallyisbroadened.Yetitisdifferenttoclaim—asmanypeopledo—tohaveadifferentpersonalitywhenusingadifferentlanguage.AformerEconomistcolleague,forexample,reportedbeingruderinHebrewthaninEnglish.Sowhatisgoingonhere?(3)BenjaminLeeWhorf,anAmericanlinguistwhodiedin1941,heldthateachlanguageencodesaworldviewthatsignificantlyinfluencesitsspeakers.Oftencalled"Whorfianism",thisideahasitssceptics,buttherearestillgoodreasonstobelievelanguageshapesthought.(4)Thisinfluenceisnotnecessarilylinkedtothevocabularyorgrammarofasecondlanguage.Significantly,mostpeoplearenotsymmetricallybilingual.Manyhavelearnedonelanguageathomefromparents,andanotherlaterinlife,usuallyatschool.Sobilingualsusuallyhavedifferentstrengthsandweaknessesintheirdifferentlanguages—andtheyarenotalwaysbestintheirfirstlanguage.Forexample,whentestedinaforeignlanguage,peoplearelesslikelytofallintoacognitivetrap(answeringatestquestionwithanobvious-seemingbutwronganswer)thanwhentestedintheirnativelanguage.Inpartthisisbecauseworkinginasecondlanguageslowsdownthethinking.Nowonderpeoplefeeldifferentwhenspeakingthem.Andnowondertheyfeellooser,morespontaneous,perhapsmoreassertiveorfunnierorblunter,inthelanguagetheywererearedinfromchildhood.(5)Whatof"crib"bilinguals,raisedintwolanguages?Eventheydonotusuallyhaveperfectlysymmetricalcompetenceintheirtwolanguages.Butevenforaspeakerwhosetwolanguagesareverynearlythesameinability,thereisanotherbigreasonthatpersonwillfeeldifferentinthetwolanguages.Thisisbecausethereisanimportantdistinctionbetweenbilingualismandbiculturalism.(6)Manybilingualsarenotbicultural.Butsomeare.Andofthosebiculturalbilinguals,weshouldbelittlesurprisedthattheyfeeldifferentintheirtwolanguages.Experimentsinpsychologyhaveshownthepowerof"priming"—smallunnoticedfactorsthatcanaffectbehaviorinbigways.Askingpeopletotellahappystory,forexample,willputtheminabettermood.Thechoicebetweentwolanguagesisahugeprime.SpeakingSpanishratherthanEnglish,forabilingualandbiculturalPuertoRicaninNewYork,mightconjurefeelingsoffamilyandhome.SwitchingtoEnglishmightprimethesamepersontothinkofschoolandwork.(7)Sotherearetwoverygoodreasons(asymmetricalability,andpriming)thatmakepeoplefeeldifferentspeakingtheirdifferentlanguages.Wearestillleftwithathirdkindofargument,though.AneconomistrecentlyinterviewedhereatProspero,AthanasiaChalari,saidforexamplethat:Greeksareveryloudandtheyinterrupteachotherveryoften.ThereasonforthatistheGreekgrammarandsyntax.WhenGreekstalktheybegintheirsentenceswithverbsandtheformoftheverbincludesalotofinformationsoyoualreadyknowwhattheyaretalkingaboutafterthefirstwordandcaninterruptmoreeasily.(8)IstheresomethingintrinsictotheGreeklanguagethatencouragesGreekstointerrupt?Peopleseemtoenjoytellingtalesabouttheirlanguages’inherentproperties,andhowtheyinfluencetheirspeakers.AgroupofFrenchintellectualworthiesonceproposed,ratherself-flatteringly,thatFrenchbethesolelegallanguageoftheEU,becauseofitssupposedlyunmatchablerigorandprecision.SomeGermansbelievethatfrequentlyputtingtheverbattheendofasentencemakesthelanguageespeciallylogical.Butlanguagemythsarenotalwaysself-flattering:manyspeakersthinktheirlanguagesareunusuallyillogicalordifficult—witnesstheplethoraofbooksalongthelinesof"OnlyinEnglishdoyouparkonadrivewayanddriveonaparkway:Englishmustbethecraziestlanguageintheworld!"Wealsoseesomeunsurprisingoverlapwithnationalstereotypesandself-stereotypes:French,rigorous:German,logical:English,playful.Ofcourse.(9)Inthiscase,MsChalari,ascholar,atleastproposedaspecificandplausiblelineofcausationfromgrammartopersonality:inGreek,theverbcomesfirst,anditcarriesalotofinformation,henceeasyinterrupting.Theproblemisthatmanyunrelatedlanguagesallaroundtheworldputtheverbatthebeginningofsentences.Manylanguagesallaroundtheworldareheavilyinflected,encodinglotsofinformationinverbs.Itwouldbeastrikingfindingifalloftheseunrelatedlanguageshadspeakersmorepronetointerruptingeachother.Welsh,forexample,isalsobothverb-firstandaboutasheavilyinflectedasGreek,buttheWelsharenotknownaspushyconversationalists.问：Indiscussingtheissue,theauthor’sattitudeis______.