The number of devices you can talk to is multiplying—first it was your phone, then your car, and now you can tell your kitchen appliance what to do. But even without gadgets that understand our spoken commands, research suggests that, as bizarre as it sounds, under certain 26, people regularly ascribe human traits to everyday objects.
Sometimes we see things as human because we are 27. In one experiment, people who reported feeling isolated were more likely than others to attribute 28 to various gadgets. In turn, feeling close to objects can 29 loneliness. When college students were reminded of a time they had been 30 in a social setting they compensated by exaggerating their number of friends—unless they were first given tasks that caused them to interact with their phone as if it had human qualities. The phone 31 stood in for real friends.
At other times, we personify products on an effort to understand them. One study found that three in four respondents yelled at their computer. Further, the more their computer gave them problems, the more likely the respondents were to report that it had its own “beliefs and 32”.
So how do people assign traits to an object? In part, we rely on looks. On humans, wide faces are 33 with dominance. Similarly, people rated cars, clocks and watches with wide faces as more dominant-looking than narrowfaced ones, and preferred them—especially in 34 situations. An analysis of car sales in Germany found that cars with grilles (护栅) that were up turned like smiles sold best. The purchasers saw this 35 as increasing a car's friendliness.
A) alleviate
B) apparently
C) arrogant
D) associated
E) circumstances
F) competitive
G) conceded
H) consciousness
I) desires
J) excluded
K) feature
L) lonely
M) separate
N) spectacularly
O) warrant
答案解析：
根据空格前的介词短语 under certain... 和后文的 people regularly ascribe human traits... 可知，此处需要一个名词，表示在某种“情况”或“条件”下，人们会赋予物品人的特质。选项 E) circumstances (情况，环境) 符合句意和语法结构。
根据空格前的系动词 are 和后文 In one experiment, people who reported feeling isolated... 可知，此处需要一个形容词，描述人们的一种状态。后文明确提到感到孤立(isolated)的人更容易赋予物品特质，这暗示了孤独感是原因之一。选项 L) lonely (孤独的) 与后文的 isolated 形成同义呼应，符合文意。
根据空格前的动词 attribute... to... (将...归因于...) 可知，此处需要一个名词，作为人们赋予给各种小工具(gadgets)的特质。文章主旨是“拟人化”，即将人的特质赋予物品。在所有选项中，H) consciousness (意识) 是一个典型的人类特质，符合语境。
根据空格前的情态动词 can 和空格后的名词 loneliness (孤独) 可知，此处需要一个动词，表示与孤独感之间的关系。前文提到孤独的人会与物品建立联系，那么这种联系很可能会“减轻”孤独感。选项 A) alleviate (减轻，缓解) 符合逻辑，即与物品的亲近感可以缓解孤独。
根据空格前的 been 和空格后的介词短语 in a social setting 可知，此处需要一个过去分词形式的形容词，描述学生在社交环境中的一种负面经历。后文提到他们通过夸大朋友数量来“补偿”(compensate)，这暗示他们之前在社交上被“排斥”或“孤立”。选项 J) excluded (被排斥的) 符合语境。
此处需要一个副词来修饰整个句子，说明手机在某种意义上代替了真朋友这一事实的明显程度。选项 B) apparently (显然地，看来) 放在句首，表示“手机显然就代替了真朋友”，语气自然，符合上下文逻辑。
根据空格前的 its own “beliefs and...” 可知，此处需要一个名词，与 beliefs (信念) 并列，共同构成人们认为电脑所拥有的“人类特质”。在选项中，I) desires (欲望，渴望) 是一个与 beliefs 并列的、合理的心理特质，符合文意。
根据空格前的 are 和空格后的介词 with 可知，此处需要一个过去分词，构成 be associated with (与...相关) 这一固定搭配。句意是“在人类身上，宽脸庞与支配性相关”。选项 D) associated 符合语法和词义。
根据空格后的名词 situations 可知，此处需要一个形容词来修饰 situations。前文提到人们认为宽脸的汽车、时钟等看起来更有“支配性”(dominant)，并且更喜欢它们。那么在什么情况下人们会更喜欢看起来有支配性的东西呢?通常是在“竞争性”的环境中。选项 F) competitive (竞争的) 符合逻辑推理。
根据空格前的 this 和空格后的 as increasing a car's friendliness 可知，此处需要一个名词，指代前文提到的像微笑一样上翘的护栅(grilles)。这个护栅是汽车的一个“特征”或“特点”。选项 K) feature (特征，特点) 准确地概括了这一部分，符合句意。
