Question

In 2011, Apple Inc. introduced Siri. This “digital assistant” lives inside every iPhone. iPhone users can ask Siri a question and receive the answer out loud. For instance, they can ask, “Siri, how many teams are in the NFL?” Siri’s voice will respond, “There are 32 teams in the NFL.”

For two years, the woman behind Siri’s voice was a mystery. But then Susan Bennett revealed herself as the voice of Siri. Bennett is a voice actor. She provides the voices for characters in cartoons, commercials, and even computer programs.

It all happened in July 2005. For the whole month, Bennett spent four hours a day in a recording studio. She read thousands of sounds and sentences. Many of the sentences made no sense. They were just strings of English words. As she worked, Bennett had no clue where the recordings would end up. It was just another job for her company.

Six years later, the iPhone 4S came out. A friend of Bennett’s bought an iPhone. She soon recognized Bennett’s voice. The friend called Bennett and said, “Isn’t this you?” Bennett listened to an online recording of Siri. The sound of her own voice shocked her. “To be honest, it was a little creepy,” Bennett said. “But [Siri] and I are friends now.”

Today, Bennett still works as a voice actor. She keeps plenty of throat drops nearby while she works, and she takes lots of breaks. “Some people . . . can read hour upon hour,” said Bennett. “For me, I get extremely bored. That’s one of the reasons why Siri might sometimes sound like she has a bit of an attitude.”

In September 2013, Apple released new software for the iPhone. This update marks the end of Bennett’s role as Siri. The iPhone now has new voices. And so the mystery begins again.


Answer: 1. After reading the passage, a reader concluded that Siri is helpful for people who don’t want to use their hands to operate their phones. Which of these sentences from the passage would support that conclusion?

A
“This ‘digital assistant’ lives inside every iPhone.”

B
“iPhone users can ask Siri a question and receive the answer out loud.”

C
“For two years, the woman behind Siri’s voice was a mystery.”

D
“But then Susan Bennett revealed herself as the voice of Siri.”

2. What is Susan Bennett’s job?

A
digital assistant

B
computer programmer

C
iPhone designer

D
voice actor

3. How long did it take Bennett to make all the recordings for Siri?

A
four hours

B
one month

C
two years

D
six years

4. How did Bennett discover that her voice had been used to create Siri?

A
In July 2005, Bennett’s boss told her that she would record the voice of Siri.

B
A friend bought an iPhone and recognized Bennett’s voice.

C
In 2011, Apple Inc. announced that Bennett was the woman behind Siri.

D
Bennett bought an iPhone and recognized her own voice.

5. Why was Bennett “shocked” when she listened to an online recording of Siri?

A
The voice didn’t sound as good as she had hoped.

B
The voice didn’t sound like her voice at all.

C
Bennett didn’t know that her voice was being used in iPhones.

D
Bennett thought the voice sounded more like a robot than a person.

Answer 1

1. B
2. D
3. B
4. B
5. C