2016年托福閱讀材料：音樂(lè)訓(xùn)練提高語(yǔ)言能力

　　音樂(lè)和外語(yǔ)類(lèi)培訓(xùn)是當(dāng)今許多家長(zhǎng)熱衷給孩子報(bào)名的課外培訓(xùn)內(nèi)容，一項(xiàng)美國(guó)最新的研究發(fā)現(xiàn)證明了這些家長(zhǎng)的明智選擇，因?yàn)閾?jù)該項(xiàng)研究稱(chēng)，音樂(lè)訓(xùn)練對(duì)人類(lèi)的外語(yǔ)水平提高有很大幫助。

　　音樂(lè)才能與外語(yǔ)能力(特殊的語(yǔ)言能力)是人大腦功能的有機(jī)組成部分，是人心智發(fā)展的生物基礎(chǔ)。離開(kāi)這一物質(zhì)基礎(chǔ)，任何個(gè)體的發(fā)展都是不可想象的。美國(guó)語(yǔ)言學(xué)家賈肯多夫和作曲家勒達(dá)爾在《有調(diào)性音樂(lè)的生成理論》一書(shū)中列舉了人類(lèi)不同文化共享的與生俱來(lái)的60余條音樂(lè)規(guī)則。同時(shí)他們認(rèn)為人類(lèi)85%的語(yǔ)言規(guī)則是天賦的，其余是后天習(xí)得的;95%的音樂(lè)規(guī)則是先天的;人本身具有某種語(yǔ)言與音樂(lè)認(rèn)知能力。

　　Learning to play a musical instrument can change your brain, with a US review finding music training can lead to improved speech and foreign language skills.

　　美國(guó)一項(xiàng)研究表明，學(xué)習(xí)樂(lè)器能夠使大腦發(fā)生變化，音樂(lè)訓(xùn)練能夠提高演講和外語(yǔ)水平。

　　Although it has been suggested in the past that listening to Mozart or other classical music could make you smarter, there has been little evidence to show that music boosts brain power.

　　盡管過(guò)去有人認(rèn)為聽(tīng)莫扎特或其他古典音樂(lè)可以讓人變得更聰明，但是并沒(méi)有足夠的證據(jù)證明音樂(lè)能提高智力。

　　But a data-driven review by Northwestern University has pulled together research that links musical training to learning that spills over intoskills including language, speech, memory, attention and even vocalemotion.

　　如今，美國(guó)西北大學(xué)的一項(xiàng)研究以數(shù)據(jù)為支持，對(duì)音樂(lè)訓(xùn)練對(duì)語(yǔ)言、演講、記憶力、注意力甚至情感抒發(fā)等能力的影響的相關(guān)研究進(jìn)行了分析。

　　Researcher Nina Kraus said the data strongly suggested that the neural connections made during musical training also primedthe brain for other aspects of human communication.

　　研究人員妮娜?克勞斯說(shuō)，這些數(shù)據(jù)充分表明，音樂(lè)訓(xùn)練過(guò)程中所產(chǎn)生的神經(jīng)元連接能增強(qiáng)大腦在人際交流其它方面的能力。

　　"The effect of music training suggests that, akin tophysical exercise and its impact on body fitness, music is a resource that tones the brain for auditory fitness and thus requires society to re-examine the role of music in shaping individual development," the researchers said in their study.

　　研究人員在研究報(bào)告中說(shuō)：“音樂(lè)訓(xùn)練所產(chǎn)生的這種影響表明，與體育鍛煉對(duì)身體健康的影響一樣，音樂(lè)能夠增強(qiáng)大腦活力，使聽(tīng)覺(jué)更加敏銳。所以我們的社會(huì)有必要重視音樂(lè)在個(gè)人發(fā)展中所起的作用?！?

　　Kraus said learning musical sounds could enhance the brain's ability to adapt and change and also enable the nervous system to provide a scaffoldingof patterns that are important to learning.

　　克勞斯說(shuō)，學(xué)習(xí)聲樂(lè)能夠提高大腦的應(yīng)變能力，也可以讓神經(jīng)系統(tǒng)建立起一個(gè)有利于學(xué)習(xí)的結(jié)構(gòu)。

　　The study, published in Nature Reviews Neuroscience, looked at the explosionof research in recent years focused on the effects of music training on the nervous system which could have strong implications for education.

　　這一在《神經(jīng)系統(tǒng)科學(xué)自然評(píng)論》上發(fā)表的研究對(duì)近幾年來(lái)該領(lǐng)域新增的大量研究進(jìn)行了回顧和分析，這些研究主要關(guān)注的是音樂(lè)訓(xùn)練對(duì)神經(jīng)系統(tǒng)的影響及其可能會(huì)對(duì)教育產(chǎn)生的重要影響。

　　The study found that playing an instrument primes the brain to choose what is relevantin a complex process that may involve reading or remembering a score, timing issues and coordination with other musicians.

　　研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，演奏樂(lè)器能增強(qiáng)大腦在復(fù)雜的過(guò)程中分辨有價(jià)值信息的能力，這一復(fù)雜的過(guò)程可能包括看譜、記譜，計(jì)時(shí)或與其他樂(lè)師配合等。

　　"A musician's brain selectively enhances information-bearing elements in sound," Kraus said in a statement. "In a beautiful interrelationship between sensory and cognitive processes, the nervous system makes associations between complex sounds and what they mean."

　　克勞斯在一項(xiàng)聲明中說(shuō)：“一個(gè)音樂(lè)家的大腦能夠有選擇性地分辨出聲音中含有信息的元素。在感覺(jué)和認(rèn)知過(guò)程的相互作用下，神經(jīng)系統(tǒng)能把復(fù)雜的聲音和它們所表達(dá)的意思聯(lián)系起來(lái)?！?

　　The study reviewed literature showing, for example, that musicians are more successful than non-musicians in learning to incorporate sound patterns for a new language into words.

　　研究人員對(duì)以往的研究資料進(jìn)行分析后發(fā)現(xiàn)，懂音樂(lè)的人將一種新的語(yǔ)言的發(fā)音拼寫(xiě)成單詞的能力強(qiáng)于未接受過(guò)音樂(lè)訓(xùn)練的人。

重點(diǎn)閱讀：

新東方托福：

新東方托福培訓(xùn)視頻：

托福輔導(dǎo)：