你有没有过这种经历：当广播中响起一首歌时，你仿佛回到了第一次听到这首歌的地方？音乐似乎能唤醒的记忆，这是为什么？本期节目探讨音乐如何让记忆驻留。

词汇：music 音乐

It's happened to all of us: a song comes on the radio, and we are immediately transported to a time in our past. But what is it that makes music so effective at doing this?

我们每个人都有过这样的经历:收音机里响起一首歌，我们立刻被传送到过去的某个时间。但是，是什么让音乐如此有效地做到这一点呢?

There are a few things that link tunes with our memories. Paul Donoghue, writing for ABC News, reminds us that the emotional nature of music helps make it particularly memorable. And Kelly Jakubowski, an assistant professor in music psychology, adds that music and singing are often part of many important life events and rituals, and that it is also very effective in grabbing our attention. These things combined mean that music and these life events are likely to be encoded together in our memories.

有一些东西将音乐与我们的记忆联系起来。为ABC新闻撰稿的保罗·多诺霍提醒我们，音乐的情感本质使它特别令人难忘。音乐心理学助理教授Kelly Jakubowski补充说，音乐和唱歌通常是许多重要生活事件和仪式的一部分，它也非常有效地吸引我们的注意力。这些结合起来意味着音乐和这些生活事件很可能被编码在我们的记忆中。

Music itself is easy to remember. Tiffany Jenkins, writing for BBC Culture, tells us how throughout history oral cultures have passed important knowledge from generation to generation through song. The rhythm, rhyme, melody and alliteration in lyrics all serve as memory aids.

音乐本身很容易记住。蒂芙尼·詹金斯(Tiffany Jenkins)为BBC文化撰稿，她向我们讲述了历史上口头文化是如何通过歌曲将重要知识代代相传的。歌词中的节奏、押韵、旋律和头韵都是记忆的辅助手段。

She goes on to say that pop music especially can be associated with a particular moment in time. As Shahram Heshmat, writing in Psychology Today highlights, we often become familiar with a piece of music because we hear it as background music. Familiarity is important. Jakubowski, tells us that the more familiar a piece of music is, the more effective it is at bringing back memories. This applies to music more than other cultural products because we are far more likely to hear a song over and over again than watch a film or a TV programme in the same way. Heshmat points out that our musical preferences usually form during our teens, and this corresponds with what many experts call the 'reminiscence bump', where we make our strongest memories between the ages of 10 and 30.

她接着说，流行音乐尤其可以与特定的时刻联系在一起。正如Shahram Heshmat在《今日心理学》中所强调的那样，我们之所以熟悉一段音乐，往往是因为我们把它当作背景音乐来听。熟悉度很重要。Jakubowski告诉我们，一段音乐越熟悉，它就越能有效地唤起记忆。与其他文化产品相比，这更适用于音乐，因为我们更有可能一遍又一遍地听一首歌，而不是用同样的方式看电影或电视节目。赫什马特指出，我们的音乐偏好通常在青少年时期形成，这与许多专家所说的“回忆高峰”相吻合，我们在10岁到30岁之间形成最强的记忆。

It's clear that our memories and music are closely linked – to the point that music is being used to help dementia sufferers access memories that they thought they had lost.

很明显，我们的记忆和音乐有着密切的联系——音乐被用来帮助痴呆症患者获得他们认为已经失去的记忆。

词汇表

song 歌，歌曲
come on the radio 在广播中播放
tune 旋律，曲子
music psychology 音乐心理学
singing 歌唱
through song 以歌曲的形式
rhythm 节奏，韵律
rhyme 押韵
melody 旋律，曲调
alliteration 头韵
lyrics 歌词
pop music 流行音乐
piece of music 一段音乐
background music 背景音乐
cultural product 文化产品
musical preferences 音乐偏好

测验与练习

1. 阅读课文并回答问题。

1. According to Paul Donoghue, what aspect of music's nature makes it memorable?

2. How do oral cultures often pass on knowledge?

3. What kind of music can be easily linked to a period of time?

4. According to the article, how is music different to watching TV or films?

5. According to the article, when do people make their strongest memories?

2. 选择意思恰当的单词或词组来完成下列句子。

1. The drum beats out the _______ of the song.

rhyme                     rhythm                   tune                       melody

2. I love that song! I can sing all the _______.

lyrics                       tunes                     instruments            sounds

3. When my favourite song _______ the radio, it makes me happy.

comes off                comes to               comes on               comes in

4. It's easier to remember the words when they _______.

spell                        sing                       sound                     rhyme

5. This is my favourite _______ of music.

tune                        piece                     song                       rhythm

答案

1. 阅读课文并回答问题。 

1. According to Paul Donoghue, what aspect of music's nature makes it memorable?

He says that music's emotional nature makes it memorable.

2. How do oral cultures often pass on knowledge?

According to the article, oral cultures often pass on knowledge through song.

3. What kind of music can be easily linked to a period of time?

The article says that pop music can easily be linked to a period of time.

4. According to the article, how is music different to watching TV or films?

The article says that people are more likely to hear a song over and over again than watch a film or a TV programme in the same way.

5. According to the article, when do people make their strongest memories?

We make our strongest memories between the age of 10 and 30.

2. 选择意思恰当的单词或词组来完成下列句子。

1. The drum beats out the rhythm of the song.

2. I love that song! I can sing all the lyrics.

3. When my favourite song comes on the radio, it makes me happy.

4. It's easier to remember the words when they rhyme.

5. This is my favourite piece of music.

文章来源BBC，侵权删，本文仅用于英语学习。