8.
阅读短文,从每题所给的A、B、C和D四个选项中,选出最佳选项。
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 powerful form of
communication.
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 lose their musical
abilities. For example, Vissarion Shebalin, a Russian composer, had a stroke 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.
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 remember the notes. 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, 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 further research of sounds influence our emotions so deeply.
For scientists, this is clearly an area that needs further research.