Music or not while studying?学习的时候要听音乐吗？

张琳

听音乐有很多好处，它可以使人们开心，缓解压力。但是，学习的时候，到底要不要听音乐呢？

1 Music makes people relaxed. Students often choose to listen to music while studying. But does it really improve learning？

2 A study by Baruch College and Rutgers University suggests listening to music while learning is really good for some students， but for others， its not. The influence of music depends， in part， on your personality—especially， on your need for external （外部的） stimulation （刺激）. People with a higher need for such stimulation get bored more easily. People with a lower need for that， however， like to improve their mental activities with music. They also find that what students experience from music depends on the interplay （相互作用） of the personality of the learner， the mental task and the music.

3 In the study， after a personality test used to know about their need for external stimulation， students were asked to find the letter “A” in lists of words and remember word pairs. They finished both tasks under one of three sound conditions： no music， simple music or complex （復杂的） music.

4 The data shows that for those with a high need for external stimulation， listening to music while learning is unwise， especially if the task is hard or the music is complex. On the simple task of finding A， such students scores were almost the same with simple music or worse with complex music than those for the silent condition. On the difficult task of learning word pairs， their performance was worse whenever music was played， no matter simple or complex. For those with a low need for external stimulation， however， listening to music is a good choice. On the simple task of finding A， such students scores were almost the same with simple music or better with complex music than those for the silent condition. On the difficult task of learning word pairs， the students scores were much better with both simple and complex music than those for the silent condition.

5 The results suggest that your decision to turn music on or off while learning should depend on your personality. So study environment needs adjustment.

[Reading][Check]

Detail 1. What does the study in the text show？

A. Music makes people relaxed.

B. Listening to music improves learning.

C. The result of music depends on learners personalities.

D. Students with higher needs for external stimulation study better.

Detail 2. How do the scientists do research in the new study？

A. By studying different tasks.

B. By comparing learners personalities.

C. By studying how music influences personalities.

D. By comparing learning results in different sound conditions.

Detail 3. Which kind of music helps students with a low need for external stimulation do simple tasks better？

A. Complex music. B. Simple music.

C. Light music. D. No music.

Inference 4. What does the underlined expression most probably mean？

A. Study environment needs to be without music.

B. The environment makes students learn either better or worse.

C. The interplay of personalities， tasks and music makes better environment.

D. People with different needs for stimulation should study in different environments.

[Language][Study]

Ⅰ. Analyze difficult structure in the text

They also find that what students experience from music depends on the interplay of the personality of the learner， the mental task and the music. 他們还发现，学生从音乐中所体验到的东西取决于学习者的性格特征、脑力任务和音乐的相互作用。

【点石成金】本句是主从复合句，that引导宾语从句。that引导的宾语从句中的what students

experience from music是宾语从句中的主语从句。

Ⅱ. Memorize text?centered chunks

appear to be 似乎是;仿佛

in part 部分地;在某种程度上

with a high need for... 对……有高需求;非常需要……