Hacking our ns to boost learning powerSome schools are pumping music, nois

题文

Hacking our ns to boost learning powerSome schools are pumping music, nois and pleasant smells into the classroom to e if it improves exam results. Could it work? Why do songs stick in our heads? What does your school smell like? Is it noisy or peaceful?It might not em important, but a growing body of rearch suggests that smells and sounds can have an impact on learning, performance and creativity. Indeed, some head teachers have recently taken to broadcasting nois and pumping smells into their schools to e whether it can boost grades. Is there anything in it? And if so, what are the implications for the way we work and study?There is certainly some well-established rearch to suggest that some nois can have a harmful effect on learning. Numerous studies over the past 15 years have found that children attending schools under the flight paths of large airports fall behind in their exam results. Bridget Shield, a professor of acoustics (声学) at London South Bank University, and Julie Dockrell, from the Institute of Education, have been conducting studies on the effects of all sorts of nois, such as traffic and sirens (汽笛), as well as noi generated by the children themlves. When they recreated tho particular sounds in an experimental tting while children completed various learning tasks, they found a significant negative effect on exam scores. “Everything points to a bad impact of the noi on children’s performance, in numeracy, in literacy, and in spelling,” says Shield. The noi emed to have an especially harmful effect on children with special needs.Whether background sounds are beneficial or not ems to depend on what kind of noi it is — and the volume. In a ries of studies published last year, Ravi Mehta from the College of Business at Illinois and his colleagues tested people’s creativity while expod to a soundtrack made up of background nois — such as coffee-shop chatter and construction-site drilling — at different volumes. They found that people were more creative when the background nois were played at a medium level than when volume was low. Loud background noi, however, damaged their creativity.Many teachers all over the world already play music to students in class. Many are inspired by the belief that hearing music can boost IQ in later tasks, the so-called Mozart effect. While the evidence actually suggests it’s hard to say classical music boosts brainpower, rearchers do think pleasant sounds before a task can sometimes lift your mood and help you perform well, says Perham, who has done his own studies on the phenomenon. The key appears to be that you enjoy what you’re hearing. “If you like the music or you like the sound — even listening to a Stephen King novel — then you do better. It doesn’t matter about the music,” he says.So, it ems that schools that choo to prevent disturbing nois and create positive soundscapes could enhance the learning of their students, so long as they make careful choices. Yet this isn’t the only n being ud to affect learning. Special educational needs students at Sydenham high school in London are being encouraged to revi different subjects in the prence of different smells — grapefruit scents for maths, lavender for French and spearmint for history.小题1:The four questions in the first paragraph are meant to ________.A．create some n of humour to plea the readersB．provide the most frequently asked questions in schools nowadaysC．hold the readers’ attention and arou their curiosity to go on readingD．declare the purpo of the article: to try to offer key to tho questions小题2:What does the conclusion of the studies of noi conducted by Bridget Shield and Julie Dockrell suggest?A．Peaceful music plays an active role in students’ learning.B．Not all nois have a negative impact on children’s performance.C．We should create for school children a more peaceful environment.D．Children with special needs might be expod to some particular sounds.小题3:Ravi Mehta’s experiment indicates that ________.A．students’ creativity improves in a quiet environmentB．we may play some Mozart music while students are learningC．a proper volume of background nois does improve creativityD．noi of coffee-shop chatter is better than that of construction-site drilling小题4:Towards the positive impact of appropriate background sound and smell on students’ learning and creativity, the author’s attitude is ________.A．ambiguousB．doubtfulC．negativeD．supportive小题5:Which of the following is most likely to follow up the rearch findings?A．Experts’ rearch into other ns that can improve students’ grades.B．More successful examples of boosting learning power by using music.C．Suggestions for pumping lots of pleasant smells into school campus.D．Debates on whether nois can really have positive effect on students’ performance. 题型：未知难度：其他题型

答案

小题1:C小题2:C小题3:C小题4:D小题5:A

解析

试题分析:一些学校在教室里给学生播放音乐，并且使教室充满令人宜人的味道、他们这样做的目的是看看这样是否能提高学生的考试成绩。在本文中作者通过对几个实验的介绍表明适当的音乐和使人愉悦的味道的确会起到积极的作用。小题1:C推理判断题。本文介绍了音乐和噪音对人思维和智力的影响，作者在开头提出问题是为了引出话题，同时引起读者的兴趣，故答案选C。小题2:C细节理解题。根据第三段对Bridget Shield and Julie Dockrell实验结果的介绍Everything points to a bad impact of the noi on children’s performance,….. The noi emed to have an especially harmful effect on children with special needs. 可以知噪音影响着孩子们的考试成绩 ，所以我们要为孩子们营造一个好的学习环境，答案选C。小题3:C细节理解题。从文章第四段Ravi Mehta的实验结果They found that people were more creative when the background nois were played at a medium level than when volume was low. Loud background noi, however, damaged their creativity. 可知合适音量的背景音乐会提升人们的创造力，故答案选C。小题4:D细节理解题。由文章末段内容So, it ems that schools that choo to prevent disturbing nois and create positive soundscapes could enhance the learning of their students, so long as they make careful choices.可以判断作者对于对学生有积极影响的声音和气味是持支持态度的，故答案选D。小题5:A推理判断题。文章末段提出Special educational needs students…… are being encouraged to revi different subjects in the prence of different smells ……，由此可以推测科学家会继续对影响人们智力和创造力的其他味道进行研究，答案选A。.

考点

据考高分专家说，试题“Hacking our ns t.....”主要考查你对 [日常生活类阅读 ]考点的理解。 日常生活类阅读

日常生活类阅读的概念：

日常生活这一话题主要涉及人们衣食住行等方面的活动。这一话题的选材主要针对人们日常的工作，生活以及学习情况。做这一类题时，最主要的是要把握好人物的活动内容，时间和地点。

日常生活类阅读题答题技巧：

【题型说明】该类文章内容涉及到人们的言谈举止、生活习惯、饮食起居、服饰仪表、恋爱婚姻、消遣娱乐、节日起源、家庭生活等。文章篇幅短小，追根溯源，探索各项风俗的历史渊源，内容有趣。命题也以送分题为主，如事实细节题、语义转换题、词义猜测题和简单推理判断题等。虽然这类文章读起来感觉轻松，试题做起来比较顺手，但绝不能掉以轻心。因为稍不留神，就会丢分。 【备考提醒】为了保证较高准确率，建议同学们做好以下几点： 1、保持正常的考试心态。笔者在教学中发现，越是容易的试题，同学们越是容易失分。为什么呢？因为在这种情况下，同学们极易产生麻痹思想，认为题目好做，就不引起高度重视，于是思维不发散、不周密。而命题人就是利用同学们的这一弱点，设计陷阱题。所以，无论试题难易与否，我们都要保持正常的考试心态。试题容易，不欣喜；试题难，不悲观。 2、根据前面讲到的方法，认认真真、细细心心做好事实细节题。 3、做好语义转换题。这类题是根据英语中一词多义和某些词语在文中能表达一定的修辞意义的原则而设计的。要求同学们解释某生词的含义，确定多义词或短语在文中的意思，确认文中的某个代词所指代的对象，或者对英语中特有的表达、格言、谚语进行解释。这种题要求同学们一定要根据上下文猜测词义或理解句子，切不可望文生义。 4、做好简单推理判断题。简单推理判断题要以表面文字为前提，以具体事实为依据进行推理，做出判断。这种推理方式比较直接，只要弄清事实，即可结合常识推断出合理的结论。