2014职称英语(理工B)阅读判断新增thebiologyofmusic.doc

2014职称英语理工类阅读判断新增文章：The Biology of Music 第十篇：The Biology of Music 　　Humans use music as a powerful way to communicate. It may also play an important role in　　love. But what is music, and how does it work its magic? Science does not yet have all the　　answers.　　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. But, biologically speaking, what is music?　　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 dont 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. This shows that the brain processes music and language separately.　　By studying the physical effects of music on the body, scientists have also learned a lot about how music influences the emotions. But 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