From Mozart to Metallica, tons of people enjoy listening to various types of music while they paint, write, or draw. Many believe that music helps inspire creativity, but an international Study conducted by English and Swedish researchers is challenging that idea.
Psychologists from Lancaster University, The University of Gavle, and The University of Central Lancashire say that their findings indicate music actually prevents creativity.
To come to their conclusions, researchers had participants complete verbal insight(洞察) problems designed to inspire creativity while sitting in a quiet room, and then again while music played in the background. They found that background music "significantly impaired( 削弱)" the participants' ability to complete tasks associated with verbal creativity.
The research team also tested background noises such as those commonly heard in a library, but found that such noises had no impact on subjects' creativity.
The tasks were simple word games. For example, participants were given three words, such as dress, dial, and flower. Then, they were asked to find a single word associated with all three that could be combined to form a common phrase or word. The single word, in this case, would be "sun” (sundress, sunflower, etc.)
Participants completed the tasks in either a quiet room, or while exposed to three different types of music; music with unfamiliar lyrics, instrumental music, or music with familiar lyrics.
"We found strong evidence of impaired performance when playing background music in comparison to quiet background conditions," says co-author Dr. Neil McLatchie of Lancaster University.
Dr. McLatchie and his colleagues theorize that music interferes (干 扰) with the verbal working memory processes of the brain, preventing creativity. Also, as far as the library background noise having seemingly no effect, the study's authors believe that was the case because library noises create a "steady state" environment that doesn't prevent concentration.
It's worth mentioning that even familiar music with well known lyrics impaired participants creativity, regardless of whether or not it produced a positive reaction, or whether participants typically studied or created while listening to music.
"To conclude, the findings here challenge the popular view that music inspires creativity, and instead show that music, regardless of the presence of semantic(语义的) content (no lyrics, familiar lyrics or unfamiliar lyrics), always prevent creative performance in insight problem solving", the study reads.
1.What conclusion can most probably be drawn from this passage?
A.Background music inspires creativity.
B.Background music impairs creativity.
C.Background noises have bad influence on creativity.
D.Different music has different effects on creativity.
2.The participants were asked to______________.
A.do some reading in a library
B.design some verbal insight problems
C.do some word games
D.listen to some background music
3.Why can't the participants perform well?
A.Because the music prevents concentration.
B.Because they aren't familiar with music.
C.Because the tasks are too challenging
D.Bee the background is not creative.
4.Which of the connections about background music with their learning effects is true?
A.The music with a positive reaction has a positive effect.
B.The effects depend on the contents of music.
C.Quiet music does good to learning effects.
D.All background music is bad for learning effects.
Apps from Chinese developers have been gaining popularity on Indian app stores for some time. In 2018, as many as 44 of the top 100 Android apps in India were developed by Chinese firms.
But things changed last year as local developers put on a fight. According to app analytics and marketing firm AppsFlyer, Indian apps as a whole have recaptured their original standing.
Indeed, 41% of the top 200 apps in Indian editions of Googl's Play Store and Apple's App Store in the second and third quarters of last year were developed by Indian developers and local firms, up from 38% in 2018, the report said. Data from App Annie, another research firm, corroborates (证实) the claim.
"This uptick happened mainly at the expense of Chinese apps, which fell from their lead position to 38% from 43% in 2018. Altogether, Chinese and Indian apps make up almost four-fifths (79%) of the list," the report said.
The change comes as scores of Indian firms have launched payments, gaming, news and entertainment apps in the last year and a half, said AppsFlyer, which analyzed 6.5 billion installs (安装)in the second and third quarters of last year.
But Chinese developers are not giving up, and continue to keep an "impressive" fight in each category, the report said.
India, which is home to more than 450 million smartphone users and keep relatively loose laws to support an open market, has naturally appeared as an attractive battleground for developers worldwide.
Many Chinese firms, including Xiaomi and ByteDance, regard India as one of their largest markets. Tik Tokapp has amassed(积累) more than 200 million users in India, for instance. Xiaoni, which leads the Indian smartphone market, is quickly building a series of services for users in India.
It launched a lending app the in country earlier in November 2018.
1.Because Indian firms launched varieties of apps in 2019__________.
A. Chinese apps lost their lead position.
B.Chinese developers gave up their competition.
C.India apps make up most of the top 200.
D.the percentage of Chinese apps went down sharply.
2.The underlined word uptick in the 4th paragraph most probably means__________
A.Sharp decrease. B.slight increase
C.a little fall D.statistical data
3.Many Chinese developers compete for Indian markets for all the following reasons except_________
A.huge market need.
B.laws in favor of foreign firms.
C.a market system open to the world
D.absolutely fierce competition.
4.What attitude did the author hold when analyzing the market situation?
A.Critical B.Confused
C.Subjective D.Objective
At the board meeting everyone present was asked to tell a story of the most embarrassing moment. When Frank’s turn came, he began, “I grew up in San Pedro. My Dad was a fisherman, and he loved the sea. He had his own boat, but it was hard making a living on the sea. He worked hard and would stay out until he caught enough to feed the family. Not just enough for our family, but also for his Mom and Dad and the other kids that were still at home.” He looked at us and said, “I wish you could have met my Dad. He was a big man, and he was strong from pulling the nets and fighting the seas for his catch. When you got close to him, he smelled the ocean.”
Frank’s voice dropped a bit. “When the weather was bad he would drive me to school. He would pull right up in front, and it seemed like everybody would be standing around and watching. Then he would lean over and give me a big kiss on the cheek and tell me to be a good boy. It was so embarrassing for me. Here I was twelve years old, and my Dad would lean over and kiss me good-bye!"
He paused and then went on, “I remember the day I thought I was too old for a good-bye kiss. When we got to the school and came to a stop, he had his usual big smile. He started to lean toward me, but I put my hand up and said, ‘No, Dad.’ It was the first time I had ever talked to him that way, and he had a surprised look on his face.
I said, ‘Dad, I’m too old for a good-bye kiss, I’m too old for any kind of kiss.’ My Dad looked at me for the longest time, and his eyes started to tear up. I had never seen him cry. He turned and looked out of the windshield. ‘You’re right,’ he said, ‘You are a big boy…a man. I won’t kiss you any more.’ ”
For the moment, Frank got a funny look on his face, and the tears began to well up in his eyes. “It wasn't long after that when my Dad went to sea and never came back.”
I looked at Frank and saw that tears were running down his cheeks. Frank spoke again. “Guys, you don’t know what I would give to have my Dad give me just one more kiss on the check... to feel his rough old face… smell the ocean on him...to feel his arm around my neck. I wish I had been a man then. If I had been a man, I would never have told my Dad I was too old for a good-bye kiss.”
1.Which of the following can best serve as the title of the passage?
A.An Embarrassing Meeting
B.A Fisherman and His Son
C.A Goodbye Kiss from Father
D.On the Way to School
2.Which of the following is not true about Frank’s father?
A.He was bearing the burden of supporting his family.
B.He was a fisherman full of strength.
C.He drove Frank to school every day.
D.He held a positive attitude towards life.
3.How did Frank’s father feel when Frank said he was too old for a goodbye kiss?
A.Excited and proud
B.Surprised and sad
C.Surprised but proud
D.Angry and disappointed
4.What does the author mainly tell us in the last two paragraphs?
A.Frank’s memories about his father’s goodbye kiss.
B.Frank’s thanks for his father’s love.
C.Frank’s regrets for hurting his father.
D.Frank’s wishes to his father.
1. We'll have ape driver
In 1994, the RAND Corporation, a global think tank that's contributed to the space program and the development of the Internet, said they expected us to have animal employees by the year 2020.
"The RAND panel mentioned that by the year 2020 it may be possible to breed intelligent species of animals, such as apes, that will be capable of performing manual labor," Glenn T Seaborg wrote of the corporation's prediction in his book Scientist Speaks Out.
During the 21st century, those houses that don't have a robot in the broom closet could have a live-in ape to do the cleaning and gardening chores. Also, the use of well-trained apes as family drivers may decrease the number of automobile accidents," Yikes, who's going to tell them?
2. We’ll have both telepathy and teleportation
Michael O’Farrell, founder of The Mobile Institute, has been an expert in the technology industry since 1985. But even the experts can make mistakes. In the 2014 book Shift 2020, O’Farrell predicted that 2020 would be the dawn of the "nanomobility era."
In the nanomomoblity era I predict telepathy（心灵感应)and teleportation (心灵传动) will become possible by the year 2020- with both commonplace by 2040," he said. Well, we’ll believe it when we see it.
3. Nobody will work and everybody will be rich.
In 1966, Time magazine reported that the 21st century would be a pretty awesome economic era for just about everybody. In an essay called "The Futurists," they predicted that "machines will be producing so much that everyone in the US will, in effect, be independently wealthy." Without even lifting a finger, the average no-working family could expect to earn an average salary of between $ 30,000 and $ 40,000 according to Time That’s in 1966 dollars, mind you; in 2020, that'd be about $300,000- -for doing nothing. We wish!
4. We'll wear antenna hats and disposable socks.
For a 1939 issue of British Vogue, product designer Gilbert Rhode was asked what he believed people in the 2Ist century would be wearing -and he had lots of thoughts He imagined that, by2020，we would have banished( 摒弃) buttons, pockets, collars, and ties. "His hat will be an antenna(天线) snatching radio out of the ether. His socks- disposable(一次性的). His suit minus tie, collar, and buttons," Rhode declared. He almost described a modem-day hipster(溯人)living in Brooklyn, but we suspect even the antenna hat might be pushing it a little too far.
1.Which statement is true according to the passage?
A.Glenn T. Seaborg: Well-trained apes will be used as family drivers.
B.Gilbert Rhode: Telepathy and teleportation will become possible.
C.Michael J. O'Farrell: We'll wear antenna hats and disposable socks.
D.Glenn T. Seaborg: Nobody will work and everybody will be rich.
2.According to the_________ prediction ,no pains no gains will possibly be a past.
A.1st B.2nd
C.3rd D.4th
3.In the author's opinion, the predictions about the year 2020 are___________.
A.scientifically based
B.likely to come true in 2020
C.impossible to be a reality in 2020
D.promoting the development of science and technology
学校英语社团即将举办一年一度的中国诗词翻译大赛。假定你是社团主席李华,请你写一个活动通知,内容包括:
1. 介绍比赛安排;
2. 参加比赛的好处;
3. 欢迎所有学生参加。
注意:1. 词数100左右;
2. 可以适当增加细节,以使行文连贯;
3. 开头和结尾已给出,不计入总词数。
Date: June 21,2020
Notice
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The English Club
假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文,请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有10处语言错误,每句中最多有两处。每处错误仅涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加:在缺词处加一个漏字符号(∧),并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除:把多余的词用斜线(＼)划掉。
修改:在错的词下画一横线,并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意:1. 每处错误及其修改均仅限一词:
2. 只允许修改10处,多者(从第11处起)不计分。
Dear Jack,
I was very glad to receive your letter on the ten of February. You asked me about Lu Xun and his works when you begin to study Chinese literature. Now let me tell you anything about him.
Lu Xun was the well-known Chinese writer. His novels have been translated from many languages, such as The True Story of Ah Q and The New Year's Sacrifice expose sharply the old society. The late Chairman Mao spoke high of him. Some of his novels have collected in high school and college textbook. Since you are learning Chinese literature, so I think reading Lu Xun's novels will benefit you a lot.
Yours,
Li Hua
