Stereotypes Might Make 'Female' Hurricanes Deadlier People may get fatally lax in preparing for severe storms with women’s names By Bruce Bower From Societyforscience. Org  2014 For decades, meteorologists have been giving hurricanes and tropical storms human names. Hurricanes are named in alphabetical order, alternating between male and female names. A recent study at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign discovered that due to gender stereotypes, hurricanes given female names are not always treated equally. As you read, take note of the different types and sources of data that the researchers collected and analyzed, and the conclusions they drew. [1] People view hurricanes with names such as Alexandra and Kate as less dangerous than hurricanes called, say, Alexander and Danny, reports a team led by business graduate student Kiju Jung and psychologist Sharon Shavitt, both of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. As a result, those in the path of an oncoming “female” hurricane are less likely to evacuate or take other precautions, upping the storm’s death toll, the researchers conclude June 2 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "Hurricane Jeanne" is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0. Other investigators, however, question that conclusion, which they say is based on too little data to give a complete picture. “Giving human names to hurricanes may bring to mind qualities that are stereotypically associated with women or men, like mildness or aggressiveness, causing perceived qualities of the hurricane to shift toward those traits,” Shavitt says. Her team analyzed data on fatalities1 caused by 94 Atlantic hurricanes between 1950 and 2012. A severe hurricane with a masculine name caused an average of about 15 deaths, compared with an average of around 42 deaths for a severe hurricane with a feminine name, the researchers estimate. So, changing a severe hurricane’s name from, say, Charley to Eloise could nearly triple its death toll. [5] In six lab experiments, a total of 745 1. In your own words, summarize the central ideas of this article. [RI.2]
2. Which sentence best describes how the information in this article is organized? [RI.5]
A. The author describes the methods used by the researchers to conduct the study, then explains why the study’s findings were not scientifically valid.
B. The author describes the study’s findings, then lists the ways in which the study could have been conducted in a more scientifically accurate way.
C. The author explains the purpose of the study, describes the research methods, then lists the different findings of the study.
D. The author presents the study’s findings, explains how the study was conducted, then presents potential problems with the findings.
3. Explain why the evolving history of naming hurricanes by gender may have resulted in a “muddying” of trends in data, as discussed in paragraph 6.
[RI.3]
4. PART A: As it is used in paragraph 5, the word “severity” most closely means:
A. Strictness
B. Dangerousness
C. Cruelty
D. Difficulty
[RI.4]
3

5. PART B: Which word from the paragraph provides the best context for determining the meaning of “severity”?
A. Risk
B. Downplayed
C. Less willing
D. Comply