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The Biology of Music
Humans use music as a powerful way to communicate.It may also play an important role in love.But what is music,and how does it work its magic?Science does not yet have all the answers.
What are two things that make humans different from animals?One is language,and the other is music. It is true that some animals.can sing(and many birds sing better than a lot of people).However,the songs of animals,such as birds and whales,are very limited.It is also true that humans,not animals,have developed musical instruments.
Music is strange stuff.It is clearly different from language.However,people can use.music to communicate things-especially their emotions.When music is combined with speech in a song,it is a very powerfnl form of communication.But,biologically speaking,what is music?
If music is truly different from speech,then we should process music and language in different parts of the brain.The scientific evidence suggests that this is true.
Sometimes people who suffer brain damage lose their ability to process language.However,they don't automatically（自动地）lose their musical abilities.For example , Vissarion Shebalin , a Russian composer , had a stroke（中风）in 1953.It injured the left side of his brain.He could no longer speak or understand speech.He could,however,still compose music until his death ten years later.On the other hand,sometimes strokes cause people to lose their musical ability,but they can still speak and understand speech.This shows that the brain processes music and language separately.
By studying the physical effects of music on the body，scientists have also learned a lot about how music influences the emotions.But why does music have such a strong effect on us?That is a harder question to answer.Geoffrey Miller,a researcher at University College,London,thinks that music and love have a strong connection.Music requires -special talent,practice,and physical ability.That's why it may be a way of showing your fitness to be someone's mate.For example,singing in tune or playing a musical instrument requires fine muscular control.You also need a good memory to remmher the notes（音符）.And playing or singing those notes correctly suggests that your hearing is in excellent condition.Finally,when a man sings to the woman he loves(or vice versa),it may be a way of showing off.
However,Miller's theory still doesn't explain why certain combinations of sounds influence our emotions so deeply.For scientists,this is clearly an area that needs fuither research.
The author doesn't suggest that______.
A:music requires special talent
B:music requires practice
C:music requires psychological ability
D:music requires physical ability
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Look After Your Voice
Often speakers at a meeting experience dry mouths and ask for a glass of water.You can solve the problem by activating the saliva（唾液）in your mouth.First gently bite the edges of your tongue with your teeth.Or,press your entire tongue to the bottom of your mouth and hold it there until the saliva flow.Or you can imagine that you are slicing（切片）a big juicy lemon and sucking（吮吸）the juice.
Before you begin your talk,be kind to your voice.Avoid milk or creamy drinks which coat your throat. Keep your throat wet by drinking a little sweetened warm tea or diluted（稀释的）fruit juice. If you sense that you are losing your voice,stop talking completely.Save your voice for your speech. You may feel foolish using paper to write notes,but the best thing you can do is to rest your voice.If you need to see a doctor,perhaps you can get some advice from a professional singer.In the meantime,do not even talk in a low voice.
What about drinking alcohol to wet your throat?I advice you not to touch alcohol before speaking.The problem with alcohol is that one drink gives you a little confidence.The second drink gives you even more confidence.Finally you will feel all-powerful and you will feel you can do everything,but in fact your brain and your mouth do not work together properly.Save the alcohol until you finish speaking.
Perhaps you want to accept the advice,but you may wonder if you can ever change the habits of a lifetime. Of course you can.Goethe,who lived before indoor skating sinks or swimming pools,said,"We learn to skate in the summer and swim in the winter."Take this message to heart and give yourself time to develop your new habits.if you are willing to change,you will soon be able to say that you will never forget these techniques because they became a part of your body.
The first paragraph mentions three ways of activating the saliva in the mouth.
A:Right
B:Wrong
C:Not mentioned
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Batteries Built by Viruses
What do chicken pox,the common cold,the flu,and AIDS have in common?They're all diseases caused by viruses,tiny microorganisms that can pass from person to person. It's no wonder that when most people think about viruses,finding ways to steer clear of viruses is what's on people's minds.
Not everyone runs from the tiny disease carriers,though. In Cambridge,Massachu- setts,scientists have discovered that some viruses can be helpful in an unusual way. They are putting viruses to work,teaching them to build some of the world's smallest rechargeable batteries.
Viruses and batteries may seem like an unusual pair,but they're not so strange for engi-neer Angela Beicher,who first came up with the idea. At the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology(MIT)in Cambridge,she and her collaborators bring together different areas of science in new ways.In the case of the virus-built batteries,the scientists combine what they know about biology,technology and production techniques.
Beicher's team includes Paula Hammond,who helps put together the tiny batteries,and
Yet-Ming Chiang,an expert on how to store energy in the form of a battery.“We're working on things we traditionally don't associate with nature，”says Hammond.
Many batteries are already pretty small. You can hold A,C and D batteries in your hand. The coin-like batteries that power watches are often smaller than a penny. However, every year,new electronic devices like personal music players or cell phones get smaller than the year before. As these devices shrink,ordinary batteries won't be small enough to fit in-side.
The ideal battery will store a lot of energy in a small package. Right now,Belcher's model battery,a metallic disk completely built by viruses,looks like a regular watch battery. But inside,its components are very small一so tiny you can only see them with a powerful microscope.
How small are these battery parts?To get some idea of the size,pluck one hair from your head. Place your hair on a piece of white paper and try to see how wide your hair is一 pretty thin,right?Although the width of each person's hair is a bit different,you could probably fit about 10 of these virus-built battery parts,side to side,across one hair. These micro-batteries may change the way we look at viruses.
Which of the following is true of Belcher's battery mentioned in paragraph 6?
A: It is made of metal.
B: It is a kind of watch battery.
C: It can only be seen with a microscope.
D: It is a metallic disk with viruses inside it.
I don't quite follow what she is saying.
A: observe
B: understand
C: explain
D: describe
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Travel Across Africa
For six hours we shot through the barren（荒芜的）landscape of the Karoo desert in
South Africa. Just rocks and sand and baking sun. Knowing our journey was ending,Daniel and I just wanted to remember all we had seen and done. He used a camera. I used words. I had already finished three notebooks and was into the fourth,a beautiful leather notebook I'd bought in a market in Mozambique.
Southern Africa was full of stories and visions.We were almost drunk on sensations,the roaring（咆哮）of the water at Victoria Falls, the impossible silence of the Okavango Delta in Botswana.
And then the other things:dogs in the streets,whole families in Soweto living in one room,a kilometre from clean water.
As we drove towards the setting sun,a quietness fell over us. The road was empty一we hadn't seen another car for hours.And as I drove,something caught my eye,something moving close enough to touch them,to smell their hot breath. I didn't know how long they had been there next to us.
I shouted to Dan:“Look!”But he was in a deep sleep,his camera lying useless by his feet. They raced the car for a few seconds,then disappeared far behind us,a memory of he- roic forms in the red landscape.
When Daniel woke up an hour later I told him what had happened.
”Wild horses?”he said.”Why didn't you wake me up,Sophia?”
”I tried. But they were gone after a few seconds.”
”Are you sure you didn't dream it?”
”You were the one who was sleeping!”
”Typical”,he said.”The best photos are the ones we never take.”
We checked into a dusty hotel and slept the sleep of the dead.
Daniel and Sophia saw a lot of wonderful things.
A: Right
B: Wrong
C: Not mentioned
