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Studying for an exam while listening to music is not smart, because background music can impair your ability to perform memory tasks, new research has found.
最新研究发现，边听音乐边复习功课并非明智之举：因为背景音乐会降低你完成与记忆力相关的任务的能力。
Study participants were asked to recall a list of eight consonants in the order they were presented. They did this while in five different sound environments: quiet surroundings; music they liked; music they disliked; changing state (a sequence of random digits); and steady state (a sequence of steady digits such as “3, 3, 3, 3”).
参与调查者听到8 个辅音字母，他们必须按照播放顺序进行复述。他们听的时候，分别处在5 种不同的背景声音中：安静环境、喜欢的背景音乐、不喜欢的背景音乐、数字不断变化的响声，数字不变的响声(例如：3，3，3，3)。
The participants’ recall ability was poorest when listening to music, regardless of whether they liked or disliked it, and in changing-state conditions. The most accurate recall occurred when participants performed the task in steady-state environments, according to the study published online in the journal Applied Cognitive Psychology.
结果显示，无论他们喜欢还是不喜欢背景音乐，在播放音乐和数字不断变化的声音环境里，被调查者的记忆力都最差。该研究发现刊登在《应用认知心理学》上，研究指出人在安静环境下记忆力最好。
“ The poorer performance of the music and changing-state sounds are due to the acoustical variation within those environments. This impairs the ability to recall the order of items, via rehearsal, within the presented list, ” explained lead researcher Nick Perham, a lecturer in the School of Psychology at the University of Wales Institute in Cardiff, in a news release from the journal’s publisher.
威尔士大学卡地夫学院的首席研究员尼克·珀罕在该期刊的新闻发布会上说：“音乐与不断变化的声音影响了人们的表现，这是因为那些环境声音变化会影响人们复述测试内容的能力。”
“Mental arithmetic also requires the ability to retain order information in the short-term via rehearsal, and may be similarly affected by their performance in the presence of changing-state, background environments,” he added.
“心算也需要通过练习在短时间内记住信息的顺序，因此也可能受到背景环境的影响，”珀罕补充道。
When performing a challenging mental task, do it in silence, Perham recommended.
珀罕建议人们应该找一个安静的环境来完成一项具有挑战性的脑力劳动。
考研精选晨读美文：外国人眼中的孔子I first met Confucius in a friend’ s living room, nearly 10 years ago. OK, so it wasn’ t really the bearded Chinese philosopher. It was a collection of his most famous lines, printed and bound and resting on a coffee table. As I scanned the pages, a vision of the man began to form in my mind.
大约 10 年前，我在一个朋友的起居室里第一次“见到”了孔子。当然了，我见到的并不是那位蓄着胡子的中国古代哲学家本人，而是一本收录了他的名言警句的小册子，装订得整整齐齐，放在茶几上。随手翻阅了几页之后，孔子的形象便在我的脑海中形成了。
It wasn’ t until last Saturday, though, that I finally had a chance to put a name to the face-that of Hong Kong star Chow Yun-fat, who plays the sage in the new biopic Confucius. I went to see the film knowing very little of Confucius’ personal story.
直到上周六，我终于有机会把“孔子”这个名字和一张人脸对应起来——香港明星周润发在新影片《孔子》中出演这一圣人角色。虽然对孔子的生平并不太了解，我还是去看了这部电影。
In the movie, we see a man who is all at once humble and wise and humorous and intelligent and disciplined and firm and clever. Even when Zhou’ s character all but throws herself on Confucius, the philosopher walks away with barely a trace of desire on his face.
影片中，我看到的是一个集谦恭、博学、幽默、智慧、守纪、严格于一身的圣人形象。即便是周迅所扮演的南子主动投怀送抱的时候，他也平静地走开了，脸上几乎看不到一丝欲望。
If this is, indeed, the real man, meeting him would be, all at once, an incredibly exhilarating experience-and also a very depressing one. In the movie, Confucius talks of changing oneself from within. This is certainly a noble goal. Based upon my own experience, though, it is much easier said than done. For example, I cannot imagine walking away from the temptress without the assistance of a supernatural power-no matter how many of the sage’ s proverbs I had internalize.
如果孔子真是这样一个人的话，那么与他见面将是一件十分令人兴奋的事情—但同时也会让人沮丧。影片中，孔子教导人们要从内心深处改变自己。这确实是个高尚的目标，但从我的个人经历来看，这事说起来容易，做起来却很难。例如：我很难想象自己能够在不借助任何超自然力量的前提下从这么一个性感女性身边坦然地走过——就算记再多的圣人格言也无济于事。
In this sense, I am more in awe of Confucius than ever before. A person’ s words take on far more significance when he or she actually lives them out. If Confucius really was the man that Chow portrays, he was indeed one for the ages.
从这点上来讲，我对孔子的敬畏达到了从未有过的高度。一个人说道做到的人很值得尊敬。如果孔子真如周润发所演绎的那样，那他真是个名副其实的圣人。
考研精选晨读美文：天价手机On Wednesday at the Berry Hill Galleries on the Upper East Side, the latest Vertu smartphone, the Constellation Quest, was launched. It comes in a few metal varieties. There is the pink or black sapphire, which will set you back a mere $7,900. One in yellow gold retails for about $25,000.
最近，最新款韦图智能手机Constellation Quest的发布会在纽约上东城的柏利希尔画廊举行。这款手机有几种不同的金属外壳。粉色或黑色蓝宝石屏幕款售价为7900美元，还有一款金黄色的则在25,000美元左右。
‘That’ s how much it costs?’ asked the actor Adrian Grenier, who was trying one out.‘Does it drive for you?’‘If it could type for me and think for me and get the dry cleaning, I would consider it,’said the fashion designer Peter Som.‘It is very pretty, and I could see wearing it as a brooch.’
“这玩意儿要这么贵吗?”演员格雷尼尔一边摆弄着手机，一边问道，“难道它能帮你开车?” “如果这手机能为我打字，帮我思考问题，帮我把衣服拿去干洗，我可能会考虑买一部。 ”时装设计师索姆说， “它很漂亮，可以用作胸针。 ”
‘What’ s the concept of a Vertu phone?’asked the financier Dennis Paul.‘To own the most expensive thing that ever lived? Maybe it’ s a status symbol in the Middle East or China, but I don’ t fit that. I’ m one of those people who are cheap. My friends will tell you that.’
“韦图手机的理念是什么?”金融家保罗问道， “就是让你拥有最昂贵的奢侈品?也许在中东或者中国这是一个地位的象征，可它不适合我。我习惯用便宜货，我的朋友都知道。 ”
Casey Gorman, the managing director for Vertu in the Americas, took a reporter for a tour of the less expensive model.‘Look at the sapphire keys, the sapphire screen,’Ms. Gorman said. She then went on to discuss the device’s concierge features, which are free for the first year and $2,000 per annum following.
戈尔曼，韦图美洲区总经理拉着记者去看一款比较便宜的手机。 “看看这些蓝宝石按键、蓝宝石屏幕。她接着又介绍了手机的礼宾服务功能，这项服务第一年免费，之后每年收费2000美元。 ”
‘For instance, it’ s location aware. You type that you’ re in New York and it lets you know where to go. ’ Mingling nearby was Perry Oosting, the company ’ s president. He explained that Vertu has sold 300,000 units in eight years. He was asked why anyone would buy one.‘Luxury is not about rational, it’ s about the emotional. Luxury is the liberty of choice. ’One person who understands that choice is, apparently, the pop musician Seal. He has gone through six Vertu phones and is the company’ s new U.S. brand ambassador. He was drinking a glass of water in an adjacent room.‘I’ m attracted to passion and courage, ’ Seal explained, fondling the Constellation Quest he was given earlier in the evening.
“这手机有地图功能。你输入你在纽约，手机就会告诉你有哪些地方可去。 ”站在他们身旁的是韦图公司总裁乌斯汀。他说， “我们在八年时间里售出了 30 万部韦图手机。 ”别人问他为什么会有人买这种手机，他的回答是：奢侈和理性无关，这是个情感方面的问题。奢侈就是选择的自由。能够理解这种所谓的“选择的自由”的人非流行歌手希尔莫属了。他买过六部韦图手机，如今是该公司新任的美国品牌大使。他正在隔壁房间里喝水。 “吸引我的是其中蕴含的激情和勇气” ，希尔一边温柔地摆弄着当晚早些时候拿到的Constellation Quest手机一边说。
考研精选晨读美文双语