Question

What Cocktail Parties Teach Us

You’re at a party. Music is playing. Glasses are clinking. Dozens of conversations are driving up the decibel (分贝) level. Yet among all those distractions, you can tune your attention to just one voice from many. This ability is what researchers call the “cocktail-party effect”.

Scientists at the University of California in San Francisco have found where that sound-editing process occurs in the brain — in the auditory cortex (听觉皮层) just behind the ear, not in areas of higher thought. The auditory cortex boosts some sounds and turns down others so that when the signal reaches the higher brain, “it’s as if only one person was speaking alone,” says investigator Edward Chang.

These findings, published in the journal Nature last week, explain why people aren’t very good at multitasking — our brains are wired for “selective attention” and can focus on only one thing at a time. That inborn ability has helped humans survive in a world buzzing with visual and auditory stimulation (刺激). But we keep trying to push the limits with multitasking, sometimes with tragic (悲剧的) consequences. Drivers talking on cellphones, for example, are four times as likely to get into traffic accidents as those who aren’t.

Many of those accidents are due to “inattentional blindness”, in which people can, in effect, turn a blind eye to things they aren’t focusing on. The more attention a task demands, the less attention we can pay to other things in our field of vision. Images land on our retinas (视网膜) and are either boosted or played down in the visual cortex before being passed to the brain, just as the auditory cortex filters sounds, as shown in the Nature study last week. “It’s a push-pull relationship — the more we focus on one thing, the less we can focus on others,” says Diane M. Beck, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Illinois.

Studies over the past decade at the University of Utah show that drivers talking on hands-free cellphones are just as influenced as those on hands-held phones because it is the conversation, not the device, that is distracting their attention. Those talking on any kind of cellphone react more slowly and miss more traffic signals than other motorists.

Some people can train themselves to pay extra attention to things that are important — like police officers learn to scan crowds for faces and conductors can listen for individual instruments within the orchestra as a whole. Many more think they can effectively multitask, but are actually shifting their attention rapidly between two things and not getting the full effect of either, experts say.

1.What have scientists in University of California found about “the cocktail-party effect”?

A. Usually there is only one person who is speaking alone.

B. All kinds of annoying sounds drive up the decibel level.

C. The higher brain processes sounds and images selectively.

D. Sounds are sorted out before reaching the higher brain.

2.What do we learn from the passage?

A. We are biologically incapable of multitasking.

B. We survive distractions in life by multitasking.

C. We cannot multitask without extra attention.

D. We benefit from pushing the limit with multitasking.

3.Which of the following is an example of “inattentional blindness”?

A. A careless driver lost his eyesight after a car accident.

B. Police scanned the crowds and located the criminal.

C. A manager talked on a hands-free phone with his client.

D. A pedestrian had a car accident because of phubbing (低头).

4.The main purpose of the passage is to ______.

A. compare and contrast

B. inform and explain

C. argue and discuss

D. examine and evaluate

Answer

1.D

2.A

3.D

4.B

【解析】

本文讲述的是“鸡尾酒会效应”的启示，也就是人的耳朵后面的听觉皮层会自动把要听的声音整理处理分来，忽略不想听的声音，人在生理上无法同时处理多项任务。

1.细节理解题。根据第二段第一句Scientists at the University of California in San Francisco have found where that sound-editing process occurs in the brain—in the auditory cortex (听觉皮层) just behind the ear, not in areas of higher thought.（现在，加州大学旧金山分校（University of California in San Francisco）的科学家找到了这种声音编辑过程在大脑中发生的位置──在耳朵后面的听觉皮层，而不是大脑的高级思维区域。）可知，在到达更高的大脑之前，声音已经被整理出来了，故D项正确。

2.推理判断题。根据第三段第一句These findings, published in the journal Nature last week, explain why people aren’t very good at multitasking-our brains are wired for “selective attention” and can focus on only one thing at a time.（这些上月发布在《自然》（Nature）期刊上的研究结果强调了为何人们不是很擅长处理多任务──我们的大脑有“选择性注意”机制，一次只能专注于一件事。）可知，我们在生理上无法同时处理多项任务。故A项正确。

3.推理判断题。根据第四段第一句Many of those accidents are due to “inattentional blindness”, in which people can, in effect, turn a blind eye to things they aren’t focusing on.可知，D项A pedestrian had a car accident because of phubbing.（一个行人因低头而发生车祸。）是一个“inattentional blindness”的例子，他因为低头没有注意到路面的情况所以发生车祸。故D项正确。

4.目的意图题。本文主要是告知multitask的研究结果并做出解释，所以本文的目的是“告知和解释”，故B项正确。