Vocabulary

 Sing: cantar
 Such as: como
 Brain: cerebro
 Sight: vision
 Touch: tacto
 Speech: Habla
 Hearing: escucha
 Boost: impulse
 Certain: ciertos
 Abilities: habilidades
 Researcher: investigador
 Improve: impulsar/incentivar
 Noisy: Ruidoso
 Musicians: músicos
 Better: mejor
 Concentrate: concentrar
 Stroke patients: pacientes con accidentes cerebrovasculares
 Illness: problema
 Addresses: domicilios
 Normally: normalmente
 Seem: parece
 Damaged parts: partes dañadas
 Somehow: de alguna forma
 Overall: en general
 Sick: enfermo
 Get better: mejorar
 Sharp: agudo
 Enjoyable: agradable
 Do better: ir major
 Steel: acero
 Tune: melodía
 Ban: prohibir
 Beat: golpe

 HOW TO IDENTIFY REASONS IN A TEXT.

  Recognize the points the author is trying to make through his writing.

 Explain what evidence is used and how it supports what he has written.

 Define the differences between reasons and evidence.

 Identify what reasons the author gives for making the points.

 Identify facts and details the author has cited as evidence to support his points.
Reasons:

-Explain how.
-Describe more.
-Show importance.
-Explain why.
-Share examples.
-Show cause-effect.

A musical boost

Two people interested in the relation between music and its effects on our brain have carried out
different studies to go deeper into the issue.

Nina Kraus and Gottfried Schlaug started different practices that included music and different
scenarios to draw out conclusions about the brain activity that enhanced. Kraus with a study of
two groups (one of musicians and the other of ordinary people) subjected to a noisy
environment with a speaker addressing them. The group of musicians was able to clearly
understand what the host was talking about because of their sharpness of listening, but the other
group could not. That was because the musicians are exposed to different melodies while
playing an instrument, so the ability to concentrate on what they are doing was the advantage
they had.

The doctor from Harvard Medical School practiced with stroke patients, including music in
therapy to make it easier for them to communicate what they wanted to express, since talking
was normally difficult for them. The patients were able to sing the words to communicate, and
that eventually allowed them to activate the damaged parts of their brain.

Before you read

A. Discussion. Look at the images and caption on this page. Discuss answers to the following
questions with a partner.

1. Which part(s) of the brain do you use when you sing? Play an instrument? Listen to music?
R/ When we do any of these activities, our brain activates and reinforces the parts of speech,
listening, movement, memory, among others very important for our daily life.

2. In what ways do you think music and language are similar?

R/ I think they are connected in the brain activity that they stimulate, that means that when we
speak as well as when we play music or sing, we are stimulating those parts of the brain in
which information is processed.

B. Skimming. On the next page, read the title and the headings. Answer the questions below.
Then read the passage to check your answers.

1. The word boost in the title probably means

a. improvement
b. problem
c. system

2. What do you think is the main idea of the reading?

a. The brain can be trained to be more musical.
 b. People with musical training are more successful.
c. Music can help the brain in many ways.

Multiple Choice. Choose the beat answer for each question.

1. Another title for the Music and Hearing section could be

a. Trained to Listen
b. How to Be a Musician
c. Playing in an Orchestra
d. The Power of Music

2. What two groups did Nina Kraus study?

a. noisy people and quiet people
b. musicians and non-musicians
c. violinists and Other musicians
d. people with hearing problems and people without hearing problems

3. What does pay attention to mean in line 11?

a. enjoy
b. make
c. listen for
d. look for

4. What is true about both Nina Kraus and Gottfried Schlaug?

a. They are both medical doctors.
b. They both work at Harvard Medical School,
c. They both play an instrument in an orchestra.
 d. They are both interested in how music and the brain are connected.

5. In line 13, what does they refer to?

a. orchestra musicians
b. instruments
c. violinists
d. the sounds of the orchestra

6. How does Gottfried Schlaug help stroke patients speak?

a. by repeating their name and address
b. by playing music for them
c. by asking them to sing words
d. by getting them to play an instrument

7. Which type of improvement is NOT mentioned in the reading?

a. memory
b. school grades
c. language ability
d. sleep

A. Identifying. Read the passage below. Highlight the words that signal reasons.

How has Western music reached every corner of the world? Researchers believe Western music
is popular because of its ability to express emotions across cultures.
Researcher Thomas Fritz played parts of 42 Western songs to members of the Mafa, an ethnic
group in Cameroon. Since he wanted to include a variety of Western music types, Fritz played
classical, rock, pop, and jazz. He asked the group members to point to pictures of people's faces
to show the emotion the music expressed.
The Mafa were able to identify the emotions correctly. This was probably due to the fact that
the rhythms and melodies of Western music are similar to the emotional features of human
speech.

B. Completion. Complete the sentences with the correct reasons from the passage.
1. Researchers believe Western music is popular because of its ability to express emotions
across cultures.

2. Thomas Fritz played classical, rock, pop, and jazz because he wanted to include a variety of
Western music types.

3. The Mafa probably identified the emotions correctly because the rhythms and melodies of
Western music are similar to the emotional features of human speech

Critical Thinking Discuss with a partner. Have you ever used music to help you study or to
help you learn something? How did music help?
Always. I always do my schoolwork with background music, because I concentrate more.

However, it must be a specific type of music, because there are some that are more distracting

than usual.

Even when I have to learn something, I add

music and rhythm to my writing to make

everything easier, because I am very good at

repeating melodies. For example, once I had a

chemistry exam, I learned the nomenclature

of some acids that went to bases (I even

remember the name of the topic). I assigned

some words that rhymed with the suffixes of the acids and that way I was able to learn

everything easier. It really is useful! Things when you make music are more useful and you

learn more, because besides that we learn, we enjoy doing it because we sing or repeat some

known rhythm, and our brain likes that. For example, reading a little more about it I found that

music releases dopamine and can help reduce stress and anxiety, so one thing I can appreciate

about studying at home (which I'm loving with all my heart) is that I can work with music

whenever I want, without being told I can't use headphones or things like that. Everything is

better that way.

A. Words in Context. Complete each sentence with the correct answer.

1. If you ignore something, you _____ it.
a. don't pay attention to b. focus on

2. A certain sound refers to ______.

a. only one type of sound b. any type of sound
3. If you concentrate, you ______.
a. think very hard b. don't think at all

4. Two examples of skills are ______.

a. food and drink b. reading and writing

5. A person's overall abilities means his or her abilities ______.

a. related to a single skill b. as a whole

B. Completion. Complete the information correct forms of words from the box, One word is
extra.
connection damaged ignore improve normally sharp
In his book Musicophilia, brain scientist Dr Oliver Sacks looks at the 1. connection between
music and the brain. He writes about how music 2. improve the lives of musicians, hospital
patients, and ordinary people.

Dr. Sacks also shares the experiences of different people. He gives an example of a man whose
brain was 3. damaged by a lightning strike, which left him wishing to become a musician at
age 42. He also gives an example of people who listen to an orchestra, but hear only noise. The
most interesting example, however, is of a man whose memory 4. normally lasts only seven
seconds. except when he listens to music. When this happens, his mind becomes very 5. sharp
with a near-perfect memory.
Before You Watch

B. Discussion. Look at the photos and read the captions. How do you think steel drums are
made?
I think that first the steel is shaped to resemble a drum, then it is filled with oil and covered with
a special material.