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 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-and-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.
语篇解读:本文是一篇科普说明文。文章主要讲述了一项有关音乐和外语学习之间关系的 研究。
答案及剖析:
1.C 推理判断题。本文开头通过“song”举例导入话题,从而引出下文对于音乐和外语学习之间关系的研究。
2.A 细节理解题。根据第五段第三句可知,匈牙利语与它们没有相同的词根。
3.B 推理判断题。根据第六段可知,唱歌有可能是学习外语的新途径。选项A中“the best way”与文意不符;选项C中的“any language learner”表述有误;根据最后两段可知,Dr.Katie Overy与Dr.Ludke两人观点一致,排除D项。故B项正确。
4.D 推理判断题。根据倒数第一段的第一句可知,此项研究对于外语学习者非常有用。故D项正确。
