VOA慢速英语2014 音乐帮助儿童在学校表现的更好

 

AS IT IS 2014-10-30 Music Helps Children Perform Better in School 音乐帮助儿童在学校表现的更好

Researchers have found that the brains of children who grow up in poverty interpret sounds differently from other children. But an American study shows how musical training can affect the brain so that poor children might be able to better process what they hear. It finds such training could help them improve language and other skills.

Sixteen-year-old Katrina Reyes fell in love when she saw the trombone.

“I guess it’s the sound and the feel and how it looked. And it was not ordinary for a girl to play trombone.”

Katrina has been attending a free music program in California for the past five years. It is called Harmony Project.

Margaret Martin launched the program more than 10 years ago. Ms. Martin holds a doctoral degree in public health. But she speaks of difficult experiences while growing up. She was pregnant during her teen-age years. And at one time in her life, she was homeless – having no permanent place to live.

Ms. Martin says that at first, the goal of Harmony Project was to help children in poor, often violent neighborhoods stay in school and finish high school. But she was surprised to find many of the music students deciding to continue their education.

“Since 2008, 93 percent of our high school seniors have graduated in four years and have gone to colleges like Dartmouth, Tulane, NYU …”

Margaret Martin noted¹ that some of the students sought college degrees in highly technical subjects.

“Neuroscience, pre-med(ical), civil engineering, medical engineering, you know, cultural anthropology².  We even have a Fulbright scholar. It didn’t make any sense.”

She began to wonder if music had had some effect on the students. It did not make sense until researchers put sensors³ on the children’s heads. The researchers measured how the children reacted to sounds, before and after they studied music at Harmony Project. 

Nina Kraus is a neuroscientist at Northwestern University in Illinois. She is an expert on the brain and nervous system. She led a study of the effects of music. Her findings were published in The Journal of Neuroscience.

The research involved boys and girls between the ages of six to nine years. All of the children were taking music lessons. They were studied over a two-year period. Then they were re-studied at intervals⁵ for another two years. Professor Kraus says she found that poor children process sound differently from other children.

“We found that the neuro(logical) signature for poverty was that children were processing the details of sounds less precisely⁶.”

But when a child started music training, something changed after two years.

“So we were able to determine that the children who took part in music lessons had nervous systems that responded to speech sounds in a more precise manner.”

She adds that the children who spent most time in music lessons were the children who showed the largest gains. Those who studied music for one year showed no changes in their nervous systems. 

 Professor Kraus says her study with Harmony Project involved a small number of students.

“We’re really just talking about you know, 100 here, 100 there; these are, these are, relatively⁷ small scale studies.”

She says she would like other researchers to extend the study to thousands of students in many areas. Some of the young musicians at Harmony Project are like Ivan Ignacio Arce. He says they are living proof that music helps children improve in school.

“After, like, the Harmony Project, I get a new understanding, going to class, participating, having an open mind, discussions, talking to my teacher.”

Katrina Reyes says she also sees a connection between music and schoolwork. 

“Math is kind of easier because of rhythms and all that; it’s easier to count, easier to calculate. Yeah, I have seen some improvements (with music.)”

But for Katrina Reyes and other students, they are not playing only to do better in school. They play music because of the love of their instruments and the friendships formed through music. 

Words in this Story

interpret – v. to understand the meaning of something in a specified⁸ way

degree – n. a title conferred on students by a college, university or professional school on completion of a program of study

wonder – v. to have interest in learning or knowing something

sensors – n. a device that measures or records information

interval⁴ – n. a space of time between events

precise – adj. exact, accurate, correct

1 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

2 anthropology   

n.人类学

参考例句：

• I believe he has started reading up anthropology.我相信他已开始深入研究人类学。
• Social anthropology is centrally concerned with the diversity of culture.社会人类学主要关于文化多样性。

3 sensors   

n.传感器，灵敏元件( sensor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There were more than 2000 sensors here. 这里装有两千多个灵敏元件。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Significant changes have been noted where sensors were exposed to trichloride. 当传感器暴露在三氯化物中时，有很大变化。 来自辞典例句

4 interval   

n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息

参考例句：

• The interval between the two trees measures 40 feet.这两棵树的间隔是40英尺。
• There was a long interval before he anwsered the telephone.隔了好久他才回了电话。

5 intervals   

n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息

参考例句：

• The forecast said there would be sunny intervals and showers. 预报间晴，有阵雨。
• Meetings take place at fortnightly intervals. 每两周开一次会。

6 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

7 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

8 specified   

adj.特定的

参考例句：

• The architect specified oak for the wood trim. 那位建筑师指定用橡木做木饰条。
• It is generated by some specified means. 这是由某些未加说明的方法产生的。