In all the world’s cultures, people sing, play instruments, and celebrate with music. It plays such an important role in our lives that whole fields work hard at its study, including one looking at the biology of music. Experts are finding that because of the way our brains process(处理)  music, learning to play an instrument or just listening to music can have a wide range of benefits.

Music education has received a lot of attention. Learning to play an instrument can help children improve math, science, and language skills. One study in Canada tracked （追踪）children’s IQ scores for nine months, discovering that children who studied music had the biggest test score improvements. The secret may lie in the way reading music and playing notes uses several areas of the brain, helping develop our ability to learn school subjects.

   Music is also used for medical purposes, such as the treatment of diseases which affect memory. Scientists explain that one area near the forehead connects music with memories. That’s why an old song can remind you of something that happened years ago. For patients suffering from certain diseases, listening to music can help unlock memories by building up musical pathways to memories.

Studies of the music-brain connection often concentrate on classical music, since it activates both the left and right sides of brains. One study found the brain activity was the highest during the short breaks between the movements of a piece of music. During each break, the person’s brain predicted what would come next, while organizing what he had just heard. This process is similar to the way our brain organizes information. It may explain why classical music can help improve memory. Some people take the music- brain connection to another level by listening to personalized “brain music.” which can help a person concentrate and prepare for a difficult task.

It’s amazing how attuned our brains are to music. Some scientists even think we’re born with the ability to learn music, just as we all have the skills to learn language. After all, children without any training often make up songs while playing. With the evidence of music’s benefits pouring in, it’s no wonder some countries make music study a part of their education systems. People are realizing that music is more than just a form of entertainment.

56. In the study in Canada, who had the biggest IQ score increase?

   A. The children who did well in science.

   B. The children who had good memories.

   C. The children who had fun learning languages.

   D. The children who studied music for some time.

57. The writer probably agrees that                 .

   A. we get a lot from teaching children to make up songs.

   B. it takes steps to make full use of music-brain connection.

   C. memory can be improved by training to organize information

   D. music treatment helps build up unlocked pathways to memories

58. What does the underlined sentence in the last paragraph mean?

   A. It’s great that our brains go well with music.

   B. It’s wonderful for us to listen to brain music.

   C. It’s surprising that music makes our brains active.

   D. It’s fantastic to know how brains work with music.

59. What may be the best title for the passage?

A. Music and Memory           B. Music and the Mind

C. The Biology of Music         D. The Benefits of Music

    Computers are useful machines．They can help people a 1ot in their everyday life．For example，they can help people save much time，and they can help people work out many problems they can't do easily．Our country asks everyone to learn to use computers except the old people．

    Today more and more families own computers．Parents buy computers for their children．

    They hope computers can help them improve(提高)their studies in schoo1．But many of the children use computers to play games，to watch video or to sing Karaoke．instead of studying．So many teachers and parents complain that computers can not help children to study but make them fall behind．So computers are locked by parents in the boxes．   

    In some other countries，even some scientists hate computers．Thy say computers let millions of people lost their jobs or bring them a lot of trouble．

    Will computers really bring trouble to people or can they bring people happiness? It will be decided by people themselves．

1．Why do we say the computer is a useful machine? Because        ．

    A．our country asks us to learn it

    B．it can help us a lot

    C．we can use it to play games

    D．it can help us to find jobs

2．What do many teachers and parents complain about?

    A．Their students and children use computers to play games．

    B．Computers let them lost their jobs．

    C．Computers make the students and children fall behind．

    D．Computers bring people a lot of trouble．

3．In this passage we know computers．

    A．also bring us trouble

    B．bring us happiness only

    C．are hated by people

D．are bad for people’ health

4．Can computers really help children to study?

    A．Yes，they can．                B．It’s easy to say．

    C．No，they can’t．                       D．Of course not．

5．How do you understand the last sentence of this passage? I think it means

    A．computers are used by people

    B．people can live well without computers

    C．one must decide how to use computers

    D．computers are strange machines