Question

【题目】 Tons of people enjoy listening to different types of music while they paint, write, or draw. Many believe that music helps get the creative juices flowing, but an international new study is challenging that view by putting volunteers through a series of tests.

The study was performed as a joint partnership between psychologists at three universities in Europe. The results suggest that any task that relies on verbal(与文字有关的) creativity was impaired(削弱) when listening to any type of music.

Subjects(受试者) in the project all spoke English as their first language, and had no problem in their sight or hearing.

The tasks were simple word games. For example, subjects were given three words, such as dress, shine, and flower. Then, they were asked to find a single word which could be connected with all three to form a common phrase or word. The single word, in this case, would be “sun” (sundress, sunflower, etc).

Subjects completed the tasks in either a quiet room, or while they were played background music with foreign lyrics(歌词), English lyrics, and instrumental music with no lyrics at all.

The research team also tested the library background noises, but found that such noises had no great difference in subjects’ creativity. The study’s authors believe that was the case because library noise is a “steady state” environment which is not as disruptive(扰乱的). Music with or without lyrics is characterized by changes in pitch or tone.

It’s worth mentioning that even familiar music with well known lyrics impaired subjects’ creativity, even when subjects declared that they worked or studied with music on regularly and the music improved their overall mood.

So next time you sit down for a study session with those lo-fi beats, you may be giving your brain something else to focus on rather than your work.

【1】What does “that view” in Paragraph 1 refer to?

A.Listening to music while working is so common.

B.People enjoy listening to different types of music.

C.Listening to music impairs creativity.

D.Music helps improve our creativity.

【2】According to the word game in Paragraph 4, if volunteers are given three words “foot, base, basket”, what is the single word?

A.Case.B.Line.C.Print.D.Ball.

【3】Which of the following had no great difference in performance of the verbal tasks?

A.Familiar music with well known lyrics.

B.The quiet and library noise conditions.

C.Background music with foreign lyrics.

D.Instrumental music with no lyrics.

【4】According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE?

A.Music cannot disrupt the verbal working memory of the disabled.

B.Different kinds of music impair different parts of our brains.

C.You may do your best work without listening to music.

D.Library noises are characterized by changes in pitch or tone.

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】D

【2】D

【3】B

【4】C

【解析】

人们在绘画，写作或绘画时喜欢听不同类型的音乐。许多人认为音乐有助于创造，然而国际新研究通过对志愿者进行一系列测试，结果显示恰恰相反。

【1】

词义猜测题。根据第一段Tons of people enjoy listening to different types of music while they paint, write, or draw. Many believe that music helps get the creative juices flowing, but an international new study is challenging that view by putting volunteers through a series of tests.意为“人们在绘画，写作或绘画时喜欢听不同类型的音乐。许多人认为音乐有助于创造力的源头，但一项国际新研究通过对志愿者进行一系列测试来挑战这一观点。”由此可知，这一观点指的是前面提到的音乐有助于创造。故选D。

【2】

推理判断题。根据第四段The tasks were simple word games. For example, subjects were given three words, such as dress, shine, and flower. Then, they were asked to find a single word which could be connected with all three to form a common phrase or word. The single word, in this case, would be “sun” (sundress, sunflower, etc).意为“任务是简单的文字游戏。例如，给受试者三个单词，例如着装，光泽和花朵。然后，他们被要求找到一个可以与这三个词联系在一起的词，以形成一个共同的短语或词。在这种情况下，单个单词将是“太阳”（夏装，向日葵等）。”所给词语为foot, base, basket，他们与ball组成football, baseball, basketball，都是球类运动。故选D。

【3】

细节理解题。根据倒数第三段The research team also tested the library background noises, but found that such noises had no great difference in subjects’ creativity.可知研究小组还测试了图书馆的背景噪音，但发现这种噪音对受试者的创造力没有太大的影响。故选B。

【4】

推理判断题。根据第二段The results suggest that any task that relies on verbal(与文字有关的) creativity was impaired(削弱) when listening to any type of music.意为“研究结果揭示到，听音乐的时候任何与文字相关的创造性都会被削弱”由此可知，您会在不听音乐的情况下工作效果最好。故选C。