1 . 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 |
| A．Hungarian. | B．Spanish. |
| C．Italian. | D．German. |
| 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 |
| 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. |
2 . When he was young, Louis Armstrong was taking what was called “Creole jazz”, which was also called dance music, and combining it with trumpeter(小号手) Buddy Bolden, to create what would eventually become today’s jazz.
Armstrong accomplished this with almost no formal training. He received little training before he was placed in the New Orleans Colored Waif’s Home at the age of 12, after a run-in(小争执) with the police. The punishment turned out to be a mixed blessing, for he also had the opportunity to play in a real band.
While at the Waif’s, Armstrong also got the chance to hear some of the city’s finest musicians. Cornetist Freddie Keppard performed in a nearby club. So did trumpeter and bandleader King Joe Oliver, who took the boy under his wing and taught him how to read music and work on his playing technique.
When Oliver left for Chicago, Armstrong chose to stay in New Orleans and work with some of the other top musicians of the day. In Chicago, King Oliver offered him a place in his band in 1922. It became Armstrong’s biggest challenge yet — the band had no parts written for trumpet, so he was forced to listen to King Oliver and improvise(即兴创作).
Soon, Armstrong’s undeniable talent was getting noticed. Even classically trained musicians would come to hear the incredible sounds this young man created.
Lil Hardin, the band’s piano player and the future Mrs. Armstrong, explained that Oliver kept Armstrong in the second trumpet-chair so that Oliver would still be “King”. Hardin convinced him to leave the band.
Armstrong moved to New York City in 1924 to join Fletcher Henderson’s band and then flew solo. In 1925, Armstrong put together the Hot Five, expanding his popularity even more. Armstrong recorded his first composition, Cornet Chop Suey, one of the most copied jazz solos of all time. This monumental 1928 recording blends(混合) artistry, endurance and showmanship that has rarely, if ever, been matched in jazz.
1. What does the underlined word “this” refer to in the second paragraph?| A．To play dance music. | B．To work with Buddy Bolden. |
| C．To play a jazz instrument well. | D．To create modern jazz music. |
| A．Buddy Bolden. | B．Lil Hardin. |
| C．King Joe Oliver. | D．Cornetist Freddie Keppard. |
| A．Because he wanted to get married in New York. |
| B．Because his talent could not develop completely. |
| C．Because he got a better opportunity in New York. |
| D．Because the man forced him to leave the band. |
| A．It asks readers to know more about modern jazz. |
| B．It introduces one of the greatest jazz musicians. |
| C．It introduces the development of jazz. |
| D．It describes the importance of talent in playing jazz. |
