Question 17 is based on the passage you have just heard.

听力原文

        In social psychology, the term “person perception” refers to the mental processes that we use to form impressions of other people. It includes not just how we form these impressions, but the conclusions we make about other people based on our impressions. (16) [Consider how often you make this kind of judgment every day.] When you meet with a new coworker, you immediately begin to develop an initial impression of this person. When you visit the grocery store, you might draw conclusions about the cashier who checks you out. 

        (17) [Obviously, person perception is a very subjective process that can be affected by a number of variables,] including the characteristics of the person you are observing, the context of the situation, your own personal traits and your past experiences. 

        One of the techniques we use in person perception is social categorization. In this process, we mentally categorize people into different groups based on common characteristics. (18) [Problems with this technique include the fact that it can lead to errors and prejudice.]

        Imagine that you are getting on a bus. There are only two seats available. One is next to a small elderly woman, the other is next to a muscular, fierce-looking man. You sit next to the elderly woman, who unfortunately turns out to be quite skilled at picking pockets. Because of social categorization, you will immediately judge the woman as harmless and the man as threatening, leading to the loss of your wallet.

17. What do we learn about person perception from this passage?（关于个体知觉，我们从这篇文章中了解到什么？）

解析：B。录音中间部分提到，个体知觉是一个非常主观的过程，它会受到许多变量的影响，结合录音开头提到的，个体知觉是一个心理过程，可知个体知觉是一个受多种因素影响的心理过程，故B项为正确答案。

错项排除：录音中提到，个体知觉是一个非常主观的过程，A项中的objective（客观的）与此相悖，故排除。录音中提到，个体知觉会受到很多变量的影响，其中就包括一个人的个人特征，并没有提到个体知觉有助于形成个人特征，C项利用personal traits进行干扰，曲解了录音原意，故排除。录音中只提到人们在形成个体知觉时会对不同人群进行分类，并没有提到不同社会群体的个体知觉存在很大差异，故排除D项。