Approximate Rates of Speech and Information Conveyed for Five Languages

Language Rate of speech (syllables per second) Rate of information conveyed (bits per second)

Serbian 7.2 39.1

Spanish 7.7 42.0

Vietnamese 5.3 42.5

Thai 4.7 33.8

Hungarian 5.9 34.6

A group of researchers working in Europe, Asia, and Oceania conducted a study to determine how quickly different Eurasian languages are typically spoken (in syllables per second) and how much information they can effectively convey (in bits per second). They found that, although languages vary widely in the speed at which they are spoken, the amount of information languages can effectively convey tends to vary much less. Thus, they claim that two languages with very different spoken rates can nonetheless convey the same amount of information in a given amount of time.

Which choice best describes data from the table that supports the researchers' claim?

Question

Approximate Rates of Speech and Information Conveyed for Five Languages
Language	Rate of speech (syllables per second)	Rate of information conveyed (bits per second)
Serbian	7.2	39.1
Spanish	7.7	42.0
Vietnamese	5.3	42.5
Thai	4.7	33.8
Hungarian	5.9	34.6

Accepted Answer

Vietnamese conveys information at approximately the same rate as Spanish despite being spoken at a slower rate.

Answer

Among the five languages in the table, Thai and Hungarian have the lowest rates of speech and the lowest rates of information conveyed.

Answer

Among the five languages in the table, the language that is spoken the fastest is also the language that conveys information the fastest.

Answer

Serbian and Spanish are spoken at approximately the same rate, but Serbian conveys information faster than Spanish does.