A
Listening to music while you drive can improve your speed and ability to get away from accidents, according to Australian psychologists. But turning your car radio up to full volume could probably make you end up in an accident. The performance of difficult tasks can be affected if people are subjected to loud noise. The experience of pulling up at traffic lights alongside cars with loud music made some psychologists in the University of Sydney look into whether loud music has something to do with driving.
The psychologists invited 60 men and women aged between 20 and 28 as subjects and tested them on almost the same driving tasks under three noise conditions: silence, rock music played at a gentle 55 decibels(分贝), and the same music at 85 decibels.
For 10 minutes the subjects sat in front of a screen operating a simple machine like a car. They had to track a moving disk on screen, respond to traffic signals changing color, and brake in response to arrows that appeared without warning.
On the tracking task, there was no difference in performance under the three noise conditions. But under both the loud and quiet music conditions, the performers “braked” at a red light about 50 milliseconds sooner than they did when there was no rock music at all. That could mean a reduction in braking distance of a couple of meters actually, the difference between life and death for a pedestrian.
When it came to the arrows that appeared across the visual field, the psychologists found that when the music was quiet，people responded faster to objects in their central field of sight by about 50 milliseconds. For the people listening at 85 decibels, response time dropped by a further 50 milliseconds—a whole tenth of second faster than those “driving” with no music.
“But there's a tradeoff，” the psychologists told the European Congress of Psychology. “They lose the ability to look around the whole situation effectively.” In responding to objects that suddenly appeared, people subjected to 85decibel rock music were around 100 milliseconds slower than both the other groups. Since some accidents—such as children running into the road—take place without any notice, drivers listening to loud music must be less safe as a result.
【语篇解读】 文章讲述了澳大利亚心理学家通过对60个男女司机在不放音乐、放55分贝音乐和85分贝音乐的情况下，看看音乐分贝的大小对司机会产生怎样的影响。
1．Which of the following is the best way to make driving safer?
A．Loud music. B．Quiet music.
C．Silence. D．Heavy metal music.
【解析】 细节理解题。根据第一段前两句Listening to music while you drive can improve your speed and ability to get away from accidents, according to Australian psychologists. But turning your car radio up to full volume could probably make you end up in an accident. 澳大利亚心理学家说你开车时听音乐可以提高你的速度和远离交通事故的能力。但是车里的收音机声音被调到最大时可能会使你发生交通事故。
【答案】 B
2．Where did the researchers do the experiment?
A．At crossroads.
B．At a police traffic station.
C．In a crowded street.
D．Under the same conditions as those of the streets.
【解析】 细节理解题。根据第二段第一句tested them on almost the same driving tasks under three noise conditions可知。
【答案】 D
3．Which of the following didn't help the performers to “brake” sooner at red lights?
A．Silence. B．Loud music.
C．Quiet music. D．Rock music.
【解析】 细节理解题。根据第四段第二句But under both the loud and quiet music conditions, the performers “braked” at a red light about 50 milliseconds sooner than they did when there was no rock music at all. 但在大声的和安静的音乐条件下，表演者看到红灯时刹车时间要比在没有摇滚音乐的情况下约快50毫秒。由此可知the loud and quiet music，rock music这三种音乐可以帮助他们在红灯时早点踩刹车。
【答案】 A
4．Which of the following is NOT true of loud music?
A．It helped the performers to brake sooner at red lights.
B．It helped the performers to be more careful.
C．It helped the performers to respond faster to objects suddenly stepping in the way.
D．It can do more good than harm to drivers.
【解析】 推理判断题。根据文章最后一句Since some accidents—such as children running into the road—take place without any notice, drivers listening to loud music must be less safe as a result.有一些交通事故，比如孩子突然跑到马路上——没有注意到就发生了。关键词less safe，说明这种情况下司机的反应慢。
【答案】 C
