英语听力—环球英语 1120 Earworms: Songs in Your Head
时间:2019-02-21 作者:英语课 分类:环球英语 Spotlight
英语课
Voice 1
Welcome to Spotlight 1, I’m Robin 2 Basselin.
Voice 2
And I’m Ryan Geertsma. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
Voice 1
Do you ever have a song that you cannot stop thinking about? You try to stop, but the song just continues in your mind. It plays again, and again, and again... This is a common problem. And the problem has an unusual name. It is called an earworm.
Voice 2
When most people hear the word worm, they think of a very small thin animal with no legs. But an earworm is not this kind of worm. Earworms are songs or parts of songs. A real worm digs deep into the ground. But an earworm digs deep into your mind. An earworm may stay in your thoughts for minutes, hours, or even days! And it can be very difficult to get a musical earworm out of your mind. Today’s Spotlight is on earworms.
Voice 1
Almost everyone has experienced 3 an earworm. Some people experience earworms almost every day. For other people, it only happens once in a long time. Spotlight producer Courtney Schutt describes her own experience with earworms.
Voice 3
“I have an earworm every day. Sometimes it lasts for only an hour. Other times, it can last all day. I have a few particular songs that often stick in my mind. They begin when I am not expecting them. My most common earworm is the French children’s song “Alouette”. My mind just keeps singing the main part of the song over and over.
Alouette, gentille Alouette
Alouette, je te plumerai
I learned 4 this song when I was a child. My grandfather would sing it with me. But I do not often hear it anymore. I do not know why this song comes to my mind.”
Voice 2
Lassi A. Liikkanen is a scientist in Finland. He studies the human brain. His research shows that earworms are very common. In 2009, he asked people in Finland to answer questions about earworms. He received almost 12,000 answers. Dr. Liikkanen’s results showed that 90% percent of people experience an earworm about once a week.
Voice 1
So what makes people experience earworms? Dr. Lauren Stewart studies music and the human brain at Goldsmiths - University of London. She told CNN that it is still difficult to completely explain earworms:
Voice 4
"What is interesting to us is the fact that this musical imagery comes to the brain without planned effort. It is as if comes from nowhere. We are still trying to learn why that happens.”
Voice 2
Earworms are difficult to research. Scientists cannot directly see, hear or measure the results of an earworm. So they cannot study earworms separate from the people who experience them. Instead, scientists must ask people to tell them about their past personal experience. Gathering 5 research results in this way can take a lot of time. And comparing people’s different experiences can be difficult.
Voice 1
Victoria Williamson is another researcher at Goldsmiths-University of London. She recognized the difficulties of studying earworms. So, 2011, she decided 6 to start a group research project. The project is called The Earwormery.
Voice 2
The Earwormery project uses the internet to continuously gather information about earworms. On their website earwormery.com, the group asks individuals about their experiences. They ask questions like: What song is your earworm? What were you doing when you experienced the earworm? And do you have an idea of what caused the earworm?
Voice 1
Williamson talked with Public Radio International about the results from the first question – ‘What song is your earworm?’
Voice 5
"When I had gathered results for 1,000 earworm songs, there were only about six songs that were named more than once. That is how mixed the answers were. An earworm is a very individual experience."
Voice 2
Next, Williamson and The Earwormery decided to see if there were clear reasons why songs became earworms. The research showed four possible influences.
Voice 1
The first influence is simply hearing the song. A song may become an earworm for an individual just because they have heard it recently. Another reason a song may become an earworm is repetition 7. Sometimes an individual hears or plays a particular song often. When this happens, the song is more likely to become an earworm.
Voice 2
Another influence the study showed was stress - a feeling of mental pressure caused by problems in life. Stress can bring past experiences into the mind. And often people have strong connections between memories and music. So a particular memory may cause the brain to think of a particular song.
Voice 1
The Earwormery project found one last major cause for earworms - triggers 9. Triggers are sights, sounds, or smells in the environment. These triggers can cause an individual to start thinking about a particular song. A person may not even know what trigger 8 brought a song to her mind.
Voice 2
Williamson told PRI about a trigger that caused her to experience an earworm. It all started with a shoe box.
Voice 5
“The box was from a store called Faith. Just by reading the word faith, my mind went down a path. It made connections from one thing to the next. Finally, it reached the song Faith by George Michael. And then the song was in my head for the rest of the day.”
Voice 1
Scientists are just beginning to understand how and why earworms happen. However, most people are interested in an entirely 10 different question: ‘what can you do when you have an earworm playing over and over in your head?’
Voice 2
Scientists do not have a cure for earworms. But people who experience earworms often have many suggested solutions. BBC news recently published an article about earworms. Soon after, many BBC listeners offered these ideas about how to stop earworms:
Voice 6
“My best cure for 'earworm removal 11' is to try doing difficult math problems in my head. The fact that I concentrate to complete the math problem usually helps.”
Voice 7
“I just write the words of the song down backwards 12 - from the last letter to the first. Then I sing the words as written down... This troubles the brain. And it immediately stops singing.”
Voice 8
“When this happens to me, I try to sing the song as if I am performing it. I sing with great excitement. Then I finish by singing loud and strong. And I hope that will "finish" the song.”
Voice 1
The research shows that people have very individual earworm songs. People also seem to have many different ways to end earworms. But what about you? What are your earworms? And how do you make an earworm stop? Tell us about it. You can e-mail us at radio@radioenglish.net.
Voice 2
The writer of this program was Courtney Schutt. The producer was Ryan Geertsma. The voices you heard were from the United States and the United Kingdom. All quotes were adapted and voiced by Spotlight. You can find our programs on the internet at www.radioenglish.net. This program is called “Earworms: Songs in Your Head.”
n.公众注意的中心,聚光灯,探照灯,视听,注意,醒目
- This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
- The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。
n.知更鸟,红襟鸟
- The robin is the messenger of spring.知更鸟是报春的使者。
- We knew spring was coming as we had seen a robin.我们看见了一只知更鸟,知道春天要到了。
adj.有经验的;经验丰富的,熟练的
- Experienced seamen will advise you about sailing in this weather.有经验的海员会告诉你在这种天气下的航行情况。
- Perhaps you and I had better change over;you are more experienced.也许我们的工作还是对换一下好,你比我更有经验。
adj.有学问的,博学的;learn的过去式和过去分词
- He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
- In this little village,he passed for a learned man.在这个小村子里,他被视为有学问的人。
n.集会,聚会,聚集
- He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
- He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
- This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
- There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
n.重复;反复
- The perfomance improved with each repetition.演出每演一场都有改进。
- This degree of repetition is not found in any known language.这种重复程度在任何已知语言中都不曾出现。
n.触发器,板机,制滑机;v.触发(事件)
- His index finger tightened on the trigger but then relaxed again.他的食指扣住扳机,然后又松开了。
- He pulled the trigger but the gun didn't go off.他打了一枪,没有发火。
(枪)扳机( trigger的名词复数 ); 引爆器; 扳柄; [电子学]起动线路
- The rapid movement of an object towards the eye triggers the blink reflex. 快速朝眼前移动物体,就会引起眨眼反应。
- Some people say that violent movies are potential triggers for juvenile delinquency. 一些人说暴力影片可能引起青少年犯罪。
ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地
- The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
- His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。
n.去除,消除;挪走,移走,搬迁
- After the removal of the soup,fish was served.汤撤去后,鱼就上来了。
- The factory announced its removal to another town.这家工厂宣布迁往另一座城镇。