Many of us listen to music while we work, thinking that it will help us to concentrate on the task at hand. And in fact, recent research has found that music can have beneficial effects on creativity. When it comes to other areas of performance, however, the impact of background music is more complicated.
The idea that listening to music when working is beneficial to output probably has its roots in the so-called “Mozart effect”. Put simply, this is the finding that spatial rotation performance(空间旋转能力) is increased immediately after listening to the music of Mozart, compared to no sound at all.
How sound affects performance has been the topic of research for over 40 years, and is observed through a phenomenon called the irrelevant sound effect. To study irrelevant sound effect, participants in the research are asked to complete a simple task which requires them to recall a series of numbers or letters in the exact order in which they saw them. The tricky thing is being able to do this while ignoring any background noise.
Two key characteristics of the irrelevant sound effect are required for its observation. First, the task must require the person to use their rehearsal abilities(复述能力), and second, the sound must contain acoustical variation(声学变化). Where the sound does not vary much acoustically, the performance of the task is much closer to that observed in quiet conditions.
The irrelevant sound effect itself comes from attempting to process two sources of ordered information at the same time—one from the task and one from the sound. Unfortunately, only the former is required to successfully perform the recall task, and the effort in ensuring that irrelevant order information from the sound is not processed actually hinders(阻碍) this ability.
A similar conflict is also seen when reading while in the presence of lyrical music. In this situation, the two sources of words—from the task and the sound—are in conflict. The cost is poorer performance of the task in the presence of music with lyrics.
What this all means is that whether having music playing in the background helps or hinders performance depends on the task and on the type of music, and only understanding this relationship will help people maximize their productivity levels.
1.“Mozart effect” is mentioned to ________.
A. explain how music can relax people
B. show music can improve performance
C. advise people to listen to Mozart music
D. stress Mozart music gains wide attention
2.It can be inferred that participants in the research ________.
A. have improved their rehearsal ability
B. perform better in the quiet conditions
C. ignore the background noise successfully
D. prefer the music with great sound variation
3.Paragraph 6 is written to ________.
A. support an idea B. make a contrast
C. introduce a topic D. describe a fact
4.What is the best title for the passage?
A. Music shapes your life
B. Music develops your creativity
C. Choose quiet music for your work
D. Does music make you concentrate?
A blog posted Dec 7, 2018 at 12:17 PM by Alanna Mallon
Alanna Mallon is a Cambridge City Councilor.
Each year in November, I receive a flurry of emails and texts from friends who want to volunteer with their families on Thanksgiving as a way to give back. I also field phone calls from organizations who want to donate to local programs that provide Thanksgiving meals.
However, as an official who still works in the nonprofit sector, I also feel deeply anxious because I know the other 51 weeks of the year, these critical programs that provide food access to residents in need are starving for both volunteers and donations. Hunger is a year round problem, and each week volunteers are the necessary part to ensure that programs are able to serve the community.
At Food For Free, we rely on about 100 volunteers per week, and each of those volunteers is extremely important to providing fresh, healthy food to people in the Greater Boston area who need it. School children who take backpacks of food home on Fridays, community college students who rely on our Family Meals program to thrive in class, elderly and disabled residents who receive twice monthly deliveries of food to their doors through our Home Delivery program, — they all rely on us ensuring enough volunteers show up to do the work.
These volunteers don’t show up in your social media feeds, they don’t win awards and no one writes about them in the local newspapers. But they are heroes. And you can be too.
If everyone made a promise to volunteer once a month, or even once a quarter, I know that we could reduce some of the anxiety these organizations feel, as a more reliable volunteer network allows them to focus on helping people, not filling volunteer slots.
Here is a list of a few organizations who are doing critical work in Cambridge to address food insecurity. Offer your time to an organization, they will be deeply grateful—and I am going to bet that you will feel pretty good about yourself too.
Food For Free: http://foodforfree.org/volunteer.
CEOC: http://ceoccambridge.org/food-pantry.
Harvard Square Homeless Shelter: https://hshshelter.org/volunteer.
Community Cooks: https://communitycooks.org/join-us.
Margaret Fuller Neighborhood House: http://margaretfullerhouse.org
1.What can be learnt from the first two paragraphs？
A. The food safety worries the author.
B. Volunteers are needed all year round.
C. Donations can be made through the Internet.
D. People like getting together on Thanksgiving.
2.Paragraph 3 is mainly about ________.
A. the need for fresh food B. the duty of Food For Free
C. the value of voluntary work D. the difficult life of local people
3.The passage is to ________.
A. call for action B. express thanks
C. advertise programs D. introduce websites
Slowly, so slowly that we never even noticed how it happened, our family stopped talking to each other. Our own worlds opened up to us through the computer or the cell phone or the CD player.
Family Night was born when Mom called us for dinner. Jessica and I came and sat down. Dad loaded his plate and started to rise from the table.
“Where are you going?” Mom questioned.
“To the living room. I have some work,” Dad replied as he hurried away. Mom’s face got tight, but she said nothing. About two minutes later, my cell phone buzzed. Jessica kept her earphones on during most of the meal. Mom was clearly upset.
Family Night started the next week. Mom established three rules: no phones, no music, and no leaving the table. Everyone would eat together and play a game together “like a real family.”
All seemed to be going according to Mom’s plan until the first buzz of a cell phone. After dinner, we had been playing the board game for only ten minutes when another cell phone let out a shrill scream. This time the phone belonged to my father.
“Work’s calling. I have to answer,” he whispered as he hurried out of the room.
Mom sighed, but she forced a smile and encouraged us to continue with the game. We kept playing through every interruption afterwards: the beeping of Jessica’s phone, the buzz of another text message from Darnell, the soothing voice announcing the arrival of an e-mail on Dad’s computer. When the game was over, Mom released us to our rooms.
That first Family Night was not a success, but Mom soldiered on. Every Monday evening we silenced our electronics and gathered around the table; and each time, setting aside our technological toys became a little easier. The next two months my father would be taking business trips. We wouldn’t be able to have Family Night every Monday.
To my surprise I realized that I would miss those few hours each week when the house was filled with my family’s laughter and conversation. I was also glad to know that when we really wanted to, we could silence the electronic buzz and just be a family again.
1.What led to the start of Family Night?
A. Electronics harmed the family’s life.
B. Heavy housework made Mom angry.
C. Dad didn’t get along well with others.
D. The children were too lazy to help Mom.
2.Family Night made the family ________ than before.
A. closer B. healthier
C. more relaxed D. more confident
3.What words can best describe the first Family Night?
A. Tiring but satisfying. B. Challenging but exciting.
C. Busy but interesting. D. Unsuccessful but meaningful.
4.It can be inferred that ________.
A. Dad seldom took business trips
B. the author enjoyed Family Night
C. Family Night would not continue
D. the children threw away the cellphones
“Come on, Cindy!” Darcy sounded so impatient, “We’ll be late for class.”
“Darcy, I can’t find my ________.” I dropped my book bag to dig through my coat pockets. “My money was in it.”
“Someone took it.” Darcy said. As usual, she was quick to point away from the ________ side of things. “Oh. I’m sure I just misplaced it.” I hoped. Even though we were best friends, Darcy and I were just so ________.
We rushed into class. Darcy ________ the news about the theft. By last period in gym class, I was ________ of having to say over and over again, “I’m sure I just left it at home.”
After gym, we went into the locker room. I was changing ________ I heard a gasp from Darcy. I looked at her and found her face was white with ________. There, at her feet, was my wallet.
“It fell out of her locker!” Darcy pointed at Juanita, a “new girl” in our class. “She ________ it.”
Everyone began to ________ Juanita at once.
“Darcy caught her red-handed.”
“Report her!”
I looked over at Juanita. She picked up the wallet and held it out to me. Her hands were ________. “I found it in the parking lot. I was going to give it to you.”
Darcy spit the words “I’m so sure!” at her.
“Really, it’s true.” Juanita’s eyes began to fill with tears.
I ________ for my wallet. I didn’t know what to think, ________ when I looked over at Darcy, her attitude made me sick inside. I looked at Juanita. She was scared but looked ________. I knew I held her ________ in my hands.
“I am so glad you found it,” I smiled. “Thanks, Juanita.”
The ________ around us broke.
“Good thing she found it,” everyone but Darcy ________.
“If there is any money left in your wallet.”
“Not now. Darcy!”
“You are so naive!”
It wasn’t until others left there that I opened my wallet.
“It’s all here.” I couldn’t help but feel ________. A folded piece of paper fluttered from my wallet. I opened it to see what it was.
“She just didn’t have time to ________ it yet.”
“Darcy, maybe you spend too much time ________ people.”
Darcy grabbed the note, read it and threw it back at me. “Whatever!” she said and stomped off. I knew that something had ________ between us.
I read the note again.
Cindy,
I found your wallet in the parking lot. Hope nothing is missing.
Juanita
P.S. My phone number is 55-3218. Maybe you could call me sometime.
And I did.
1.A. coat B. book C. pen D. wallet
2.A. serious B. bright C. funny D. opposite
3.A. close B. strange C. different D. independent
4.A. spread B. heard C. watched D. made
5.A. afraid B. proud C. tired D. fond
6.A. since B. after C. before D. when
7.A. shame B. shock C. shyness D. sadness
8.A. got B. lost C. stole D. brought
9.A. accuse B. comfort C. warn D. help
10.A. rising B. waving C. clapping D. trembling
11.A. reached B. looked C. paid D. searched
12.A. so B. but C. for D. or
13.A. excited B. modest C. sincere D. pleased
14.A. reputation B. confidence C. wealth D. regret
15.A. trust B. peace C. balance D. tension
16.A. agreed B. promised C. hesitated D. admitted
17.A. relaxed B. relieved C. disappointed D. disturbed
18.A. return B. lend C. find D. empty
19.A. persuading B. numbering C. understanding D. transforming
20.A. left B. united C. broken D. recovered
Because deaf people can’t hear, they have special ways of communicating. For example, they can learn to understand 1. someone is saying by looking at the mouth of the speaker. This 2. (call) lipreading. Also, speaking is very difficult for the deaf, because they can’t hear 3. (they) own voices. However, it is possible with special training. According to many deaf people all around the world, the most 4. (practice) and popular way of communicating is with sign language.
Wilbur and Orille Wright are brothers famous for inventing the first aeroplane. Their interest in flight 1. (start) on the day when their father brought home a toy helicopter for them. It was made of paper and wood. The boys played with it until it broke, and then made their own 2. (replace) it. When they were older, they owned a bicycle shop where they started producing and selling their own bikes. This provided them with the money to pay for their experiments in flight. Eventually, they built their 3. (fly) machine.
