Question

    Have you ever found yourself in this 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 or memorable tune.

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. amuse the readers

C. introduce the topic D. compare the past 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.From the last two paragraphs, we can conclude that ________.

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

B. brain probably works best when 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.What’s correct about the study undertaken by the researchers at the University of Edinburgh?

A. Altogether twenty adults were tested in the study.

B. People in the 3rd group performed as well as the other 2 groups.

C. People in the 2nd group were asked to speak the words to a beat.

D. In the study 60 adults were divided into 3 groups according to abilities.

5.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.C

5.D

【解析】

本文为说明文。文章主要讲述了一项关于音乐和外语习得之间关系的研究。

1.推理判断题。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C选项正确。

2.细节理解题。根据第五段中的It does not share any roots with Germanic or Romance languages, such as Italian or Spanish.（它与日耳曼语或罗曼语(如意大利语或西班牙语)没有任何共同的根源）可知，匈牙利语与日耳曼语或罗曼语没有任何共同的根源。故A选项正确。

3.细节推理题。根据倒数第二段中的The brain likes to remember things when they are contained in a catchy or memorable tune.（大脑喜欢记住那些朗朗上口或令人难忘的旋律）可知，外语学习者用唱的方式学习时，大脑更容易记住。故B选项正确。

4.细节理解题。根据第三段中的They had the second group speak the words to a rhythm, or beat.（他们让第二组人有节奏地说单词）可知，C项“第二组的人被要求随着节拍说出单词”正确。故C选项正确。

5.推理判断题。根据最后一段中的Dr. Ludke said the findings could help those who struggle to learn foreign languages.（勒德克博士说，这些发现可以帮助那些努力学习外语的人）可知，D项“一个美国人打算学习一些汉语”正确。故D选项正确。