新标准大学英语三unit7

TextThedivawithinMusiccanliterallychangethewayyouthink,discoversarchaeologistStevenMithenwhenhelearnstosing.1Cananyonelearntosing?It'saquestionthathauntedmeasIwaswritingmymostrecentbookTheSingingNeanderthals.Myresearchhadpersuadedmethatmusicalityisdeeplyembeddedinthehumangenome,withfarmoreancientevolutionaryrootsthanspokenlanguage.YethereIwas,unabletocarryatuneormatcharhythm.FriendsandacademiccolleaguesclaimedthiswassimplybecauseIhadbeenturnedofffrommusicasachildandifonlyItookafewlessonsIwouldfindmyvoice.Maybetheywereright.SohumiliatedwasIbymusicteacherswhomademesingaloneinfrontoftheclassthatIdroppedmusicatthefirstopportunityandhaven'tparticipatedinanythingmusicalforover35years.PerhapsIcouldlearntosing.Text2ThemoreIthoughtaboutit,themoreIrealizedthatherewasanopportunitynottobemissed.AswellastestingwhetherIcouldimprovemytone,pitchandrhythm,perhapsIcouldalsofindoutwhatwashappeninginsidemybrainasItriedtolearnhowtosing.IhadrecentlyreadanarticlebyresearcherLarryParsonsattheUniversityofSheffield,UK,entitledThesongsystemofthehumanbrain,andthenmethimataconference.TextWiththehelpoffunctionalMRIhehadbeguntoidentifywhichareasofthebrainarerecruitedwhenweengagewithmusic.Someoftheseareasareevidentlyusedforbothmusicandotheractivitiesandsome,suchastheplanumpolare,inthetemporallobe,appeartobespecializedforprocessingmusic.Iwantedtoknowwhetherlearningtosingcouldactuallychangethewaymybrainworked.Text3IemailedLarryjustbeforeChristmasin2005,suggestingwecollaborateonanexperiment:Iwouldhavemybrainscannedwhilesinging,thentakeoneyearofsinginglessonsbeforehavinganotherscantoseewhetheranythinghadchanged.Larryagreed,soIfoundmyselfasingingteacher,PamChilvers,andthethreeofusmetearlyin2006todesignthestudy.TextWeagreedthatIwouldbetestedoneighttechnicalexercises,coveringvariousmusicaltaskssuchassustainingapitch,singingscalesandinrhythm.Iwouldalsolearntwosongs:AGaelicBlessingbyJohnRutterandLasciach'iopiangabyHandel.ListeningtoPamsingtheseremindedmeaboutmymotivationforwritingmybook:Whyshouldevolutionhavecreatedaspeciesthatcansingwithsuchremarkablebeauty?Text4BeforethefirstscanningsessionIhadacoupleoflessonstogetmeusedtosingingandtoprovidetherudimentsofreadingmusic.IthinkPamwasshockedatmylackofability–sheisusedtoteachingexperiencedmusiciansandprecociouschildrenandhadn'tactuallybelievedmewhenIhadsaidthatIcouldn'tsingintuneorfollowarhythm.Shesoonlearnedbetter.ThescantookplaceinJune2006andwasagruellingexperience.TextForhours,Ilayflatonmyback,singingthetechnicalexercisesandsongexcerptsthatIcouldseeprojectedonascreenabove.Eachpiecehadtobesungthreetimes,withLarrytappingmytoetoletmeknowwhenIshouldstartandstop.Later,hewouldprocesstheimages,subtractingtheaverageofthosetakenduringsingingfromthoseatrest,togivesnapshotsofthementalactivityinvolved.Text5Thenbeganayearoflessons.Pamtaughtmeaboutpostureandbreathing;shegavemetaskstohelpmesingintuneandtoexpandmyrange.Oncemypitchhadimproved,weworkedonrhythm,andthentoneanddynamics.Shewasalwaysencouragingandoptimistic,whereasIwasaprettypoorstudent–lackinginconfidence,gettingfrustratedandprobablynotworkingashardasIshould.InTheSingingNeanderthalsIarguedthatsingingisameansforachievingwell-beingthroughsocialbonding.Sadly,thatwasnotmyexperience–Isimplybecamecross,stressedanddissatisfied.TextMysingingwasn'tgoodformyfamilylifeeither,asmychildrendidn'tappreciatethelate-nightpractising.Nevertheless,Iperseveredandalthoughmyprogresswaslimited,Ididactuallybegintoenjoysomeaspectsoftheventure,especiallyLasciach'iopianga.Onafewoccasionswhensingingwithmywifewebothexperiencedfleetingfeelingsofemotionalintimacyasourvoicesblendedintoone–butthenIwouldstumbleandthemomentwouldbelost.TextEncore!6Thesecondbrainscan,inJuly2007,wasaschallengingasthefirst.Werepeatedthesametechnicalexercisesandsongexcerptsinexactlythesameway.LyingstillwasevenmorefrustratingthanthelasttimebecauseIhadlearnedthatmovingmybodywasasimportanttosingingaswasflexingmyvocalcords.Ileftthescannerfeelingexhausted,butthistimeIwasalsoelatedthatmyworkfortheexperimentwasdone.TextItwasnowovertoLarrytocomparemybeforeandafterscanstoseewhethertheyearofsinginghadchangedmybrain.Iwasdoubtful,becauseIfeltmysinginghadbarelyimproved.SoIwassurprisedwhenLarrytoldmethatnotonlyhadtherebeensignificantchangesinmybrainactivity,butthatthesefittedwithhisunderstandingofhowthebrainsupportsmusicalperformance.Text7So,cananyonelearntosing?Iamstillnotsure,butIdidlearnmoreaboutsingingbyspendingayeartryingtodoitthaninyearsreadingaboutit.Byunderstandingjusthowremarkablydifficultitistosing–tosimultaneouslyandunconsciouslymanagepitch,rhythm,timbre,toneanddynamics–Iamevenmoremystifiedastowhyhumanshaveevolvedsuchanamazingability.Text人人都是歌唱家考古学家史蒂文·米森在学习唱歌的时候发现，音乐确实可以改变人的思维方式。1人人都能学会唱歌吗？在撰写我最新出版的《唱着歌的尼安德特人》一书时，这个问题就一直萦绕在我的心头。我做的研究让我相信音乐才能是深深植根于人类基因中的，从进化史的角度来说，它比人类的口头语言都要古老得多。可是我本人一唱起歌来不是跑调，就是跟不上节奏。朋友们和学术同僚们都说，那都是因为我小时候对音乐失去了兴趣，只要上几节音乐课，我一定能放声歌唱。也许他们是对的。记得小时候，音乐老师们让我在全班同学面前独“唱”，让我觉得很丢脸。所以后来一有机会，我就躲开音乐，35年来从来没有参加过任何音乐活动。说不定学一学我也能唱得不错。Text2我越想就越觉得这是个不容错过的好机会。除了看看能不能改善我的音调、音高和节奏感之外，或许我还能发现学习唱歌的时候大脑会有什么样的变化。最近读了英