Unit 3 Music and Math

Transcription

1 Unit 3 Music and Math Students soon could find an unusual 1 teaching tool 2 in their mathematics classrooms the piano. A study by researchers at the University of California at lrvine 3 says that children taught to read music 4 and play simple songs greatly improve 5 their ability to learn difficult mathematical ideas 6. The scientists were led by the physicist 7 Gordon Shaw 8. Six years ago, Mr. Shaw did a study about music and learning. His study showed that college students did better on 9 a reasoning test 10 after listening to classical piano music by the great composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 11. This time 12, Mr. Shaw and his research team studied eight-year-old children at a school in Los Angeles. One group of students learned to play the piano at school every day for four months. They also played special 1 unusual 2 teaching tool the University of California at lrvine read music improve mathematical ideas physicist Gordon Shaw did better on reasoning test Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart W. A. This time 1

2 computer games designed to teach 13 difficult mathematical ideas not usually taught until five years later 14. The researchers then tested these children on 15 math problems that involve parts 16 and relationships 17. The students did 27 percent better than 18 another group given computer games, but not piano studies 19. And the students did 100 percent better than a group of children who only had the usual school studies with no piano or computer games. The researchers say they do not know exactly why learning to play the piano 20 helps a child learn higher-level math. But both music and math have been shown to use the same method of thinking 21 called spatialtemporal reasoning 22. Spatial-temporal reasoning means creating pictures 23 in the brain to think about relationships in time and space. The researchers say their study shows that playing the piano seems to make it easier for a person to learn to use spatial-temporal reasoning. 13 special computer games designed to teach 14 not usually taught until five years later 15 tested these children on 16 part 17 relationship 18 did 27 percent better than given computer games but not piano studies learning to play the piano the same method of thinking spatial-temporal reasoning 2

3 The researchers say this may be because 24 the keys on the piano help a person better imagine relationships in distance 25. And the amount of time a note is held 26 teaches relationships like one half as long 27, or three times as long 28. The study also says reading music requires a person to think several steps ahead 29 and to recognize developing patterns 30. Mr. Shaw and his team say finding a link 31 between piano studies and learning high-level mathematical ideas is very important. Students need to know higher-level math for all math and science classes taught at universities. And people need higher-level math knowledge to work in professions 32 such as medicine 33, engineering 34, and architecture 35. Mr. Shaw and the other researchers now plan to study ways to make piano training part of education 36 in the United States. The researchers believe their studies could change the way children learn science and math. 23 creating pictures 24 this may be because 25 better imagine relationships in distance 26 the amount of time a note is held 27 one half as long three times as long requires a person to think several steps ahead recognize developing patterns link professions ( ) medicine engineering architecture ways to make piano training part of education 3

4 True False T F ( ) ( T ) 1. Children can learn about spatial-temporal relationships by learning to play the piano. ( F ) 2. Mathematics is nothing like music because music has spatial-temporal relationships. ( F ) 3. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a great mathematician. ( T ) 4. Children in the study who played computer games, but did not play the piano, had lower mathematics scores. ( F ) 5. America has been using the piano to train children in mathematics for a long time. 4

5 Multiple Choice ( ) a b c 1. ( c ) children are expected to go to elementary school in Japan. a. Seven-years-old b. Seven-year-olds c. Seven-year-old 2. They play a special TV game ( b ) for studying English at home. a. designing b. designed c. design 3. The children were given pencils and crayons ( c ) pens. a. that was b. which were c. but not 4. Music and math have ( c ) to use the same method of thinking. a. shown b. show c. been shown Dictation 1. The study showed that college student's did better on a reasoning test. 2. The students did 27 percent better than another group 3. The keys on the piano help a person better imagine relationships in distance. 5

6 Composition 1. Every morning [helps, prepare, my daughter, breakfast, me]. Every morning [ my daughter helps me prepare breakfast ]. 2. She [does, where, exactly, know, how, he, not, got, and] the information. She [ does not exactly know where and how he got ] the information. 3. The tool [for, would, it, easier, make, you, to] draw a big circle. The tool [ would make it easier for you to ] draw a big circle. 4. Doing [me, to, required, Spanish, this task, learn]. Doing [this task required me to learn Spanish]. 6