Question

Have you ever found yourself in his situation: You hear a song you used to sing when you were a child-a bit of nostalgia(怀旧) or “blast from the past,” as we say. But it is not a distant childhood memory. The words come back to you as clearly as when you sang them all those years ago.

Researchers at the University of Edinburgh studied the relationship between music and remembering a foreign language. They found that remembering words in a song was the best way to remember even one of the most difficult languages.

Here is what they did. Researchers took 60 adults and randomly divided them into three groups of 20. Then they gave the groups three different types of “listen-and-repeat” learning conditions. Researchers had one group simply speak the words. They had the second group speak the words to a rhythm, or beat. And they asked the third group to sing the words.

All three groups studied words from the Hungarian language for 15 minutes. Then they took part in a series of language tests to see what they remembered.

Why Hungarian, you ask? Researchers said they chose Hungarian because not many people know the language. It does not share any roots with Germanic or Romance languages, such as Italian or Spanish. After the tests were over, the singers came out on top. The people who learned these new Hungarian words by singing them showed a higher overall performance. They did the best in four out of five of the tests. They also performed two times better than those who simply learned the words by speaking them.

Dr. Katie Overy says singing could lead to new ways to learn a foreign language. The brain likes to remember things when they are contained in a catchy 3, or memorable 4, tune 5.

Dr. Ludke said the findings could help those who struggle to learn foreign languages. On the University of Edinburgh’s website Dr. Ludke writes, “This study provides the first experimental evidence that a listen-and-repeat singing method can support foreign language learning, and opens the door for future research in this area.”

1.The “song” mentioned in the first paragraph is intended to__________.

A. recall the past

B. attract the readers

C. introduce the topic

D. compare the childhood with the present

2.According to the passage which language doesn’t share the same root with Germanic or Romance languages?

A. Hungarian      B. Spanish

C. Italian       D. English

3.Based on the last two paragraphs, we can conclude that __________

A. singing is the best way to learn a language.

B. the brain probably works best when the foreign language learners sing the words.

C. a listen-repeat method is very effective for any language learner.

D. Dr. Katie Overy and Dr. Ludke disagree with each other.

4.In which situation can the finding of the research be applied?

A. A mother is going to teach her baby how to speak.

B. A child is going to have his first music lesson.

C. A student is going to learn a new English song.

D. An American is going to learn some Chinese.

Answer

1.C

2.A

3.B

4.B

【解析】

试题分析：本文讲述的是一项关于音乐和外语习得之间关系的研究。

1.C细节理解题。本文开头通过举例导入话题，人们都清楚地记得儿时唱歌的歌词是因为音乐有助于记忆。故选C。

2.A细节理解题。根据文章第五段“It does not share any roots with Germanic or Romance languages, such as Italian or Spanish.”可知A项正确。故选A。

3.B细节理解题。根据最后两段对研究的具体描述可知B项正确。故选B。

4.B推断题。从最后一段可知，此项研究对于外语学习者非常有用可知B项正确。A项的描述是指学母语的情况，不适合。故选B。

考点：考查科普类阅读

【名师点睛】

科普类的阅读理解一般为介绍科学知识、社会知识的文章。阅读这类短文时，要以文章事实为中心进行思考。

答题技巧：

1. 加强整体意识，把握文章的主要内容。给重要的句子和关键词做上记号，特别是各段中心句，可以更快捷的答题。

2. 审清题干，弄清楚问题的要点，从文章对应处寻找答案。比如第29题：细节理解题。根据文章第五段“It does not share any roots with Germanic or Romance languages, such as Italian or Spanish.”可知A项正确。故选A。

要熟悉科普类文章的结构特点。科普类文章一般由标题(Head line)，导语(Introduction)，背景(Back ground)，主体(Main body)和结尾(End)五部分构成。标题是文章中心思想高度而又精辟的概括，但根据历年的高考情况来看，这类阅读理解材料一般不给标题，而要同学们选择标题。导语一般位于整篇文章的首段。背景交待一个事实的起因。主体则对导语概括的事实进行详细叙述，这一部分命题往往最多，因此，阅读时，同学们要把这部分作为重点。结尾往往也是中心思想的概括，并与导语相呼应，命题者常在此要设计一道推理判断题。比如第31题：推断题。从最后一段可知，此项研究对于外语学习者非常有用可知B项正确。A项的描述是指学母语的情况，不适合。故选B。