Why Is It Fairly Easy, Out of Context, to Mistake

question 94

Multiple Choice

Why is it fairly easy, out of context, to mistake the spoken sentence "The sky is falling" for the sentence "This guy is falling"?

• A) They contain the same morphemes, but in different orders.
• B) They contain ambiguous or vague referents.
• C) The speech stream rarely contains silences between words.
• D) There are only about 40 phonemes used in English, not enough to distinguish between sentences that sound the same.

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Definitions:

Metabolic Rate

The rate at which the body uses energy to maintain basic physiological functions while at rest.

Basal Metabolic Rate

The speed at which the body consumes energy during rest in order to support essential activities like respiration and maintaining body temperature.

Body Mass Index

A numerical calculation using height and weight to determine whether a person is underweight, normal weight, overweight, or obese.

Total Metabolic Rate

The total amount of energy expended by an organism in a given time period, encompassing all bodily functions.