Why do people always want to get up and dance when they hear music? The usual explanation is that there is something embedded in every culture—that dancing is a “cultural universal”. A researcher in Manchester thinks the impulse may be even more deeply rooted than that. He says it may be a reflex reaction.
Neil Todd, a psychologist at the University of Manchester, told the BA that he first got an inkling that biology was the key after watching people dance to deafeningly loud music. “There is a compulsion about it,” he says. He reckoned there might be a more direct, biological, explanation for the desire to dance, so he started to look at the inner ear.
The human ear has two main functions: hearing and maintaining balance. The standard view is that these tasks are segregated so that organs for balance, for instance, do not have an acoustic function. But Todd says animal studies have shown that the sacculus, which is part of the balance-regulating vestibular system, has retained some sensitivity to sound. The sacculus is especially sensitive to extremely loud noise, above 70 decibels.
“There’s no question that in a contemporary dance environment, the sacculus will be stimulated,” says Todd. The average rave, he says, blares music at a painful 110 to 140 decibels. But no one really knows what an acoustically stimulated sacculus does.
Todd speculates that listening to extremely loud music is a form of “vestibular self-stimulation”: it gives a heightened sensation of motion. “We don’t know exactly why it causes pleasure,” he says. “But we know that people go to extraordinary lengths to get it.” He lists bungee jumping, playing on swings or even rocking to and fro in a rocking chair as other examples of pursuits designed to stimulate the sacculus.
The same pulsing that makes us feel as though we are moving may make us get up and dance as well, says Todd. Loud music sends signals to the inner ear which may prompt reflex movement. “The typical pulse rate of dance music is around the rate of locomotion,” he says. “It’s quite possible you’ re triggering a spinal reflex.”
1. The passage begins with ________.
2. What intrigued Todd was ________.
3. Todd’s biological explanation for the desire to dance refers to ________.
4. When the sacculus is acoustically stimulated, according to Todd, ________.
5. What is the passage mainly about?
问题1选项
A.a new explanation of music
B.a cultural universal questioned
C.a common psychological abnormality
D.a deep insight into human physical movements
问题2选项
A.human instinct reflexes
B.people’s biological heritages
C.people’s compulsion about loud music
D.the damages loud music wrecks on human hearing
问题3选项
A.the mechanism of hearing sounds
B.the response evoked from the sacculus
C.the two main functions performed by the human ear
D.the segregation of the hearing and balance maintaining function
问题4选项
A.functional balance will be maintained in the ear
B.pleasure will be aroused
C.decibels will shoot up
D.hearing will occur
问题5选项
A.The human ear does more than hearing than expected.
B.Dancing is capable of heightening the sensation of hearing.
C.Loud music stimulates the inner ear and generates the urge to dance.
D.The human inner ear does more to help hear than to help maintain balance.
第1题:B
第2题:C
第3题:B
第4题:B
第5题:C
第1题:
【选项释义】
The passage begins with ________. 文章以________开头。
A. a new explanation of music A. 音乐的新解释
B. a cultural universal questioned B. 有争议的文化普遍性
C. a common psychological abnormality C. 常见的心理异常
D. a deep insight into human physical movements D. 对人类身体运动的深刻洞察
【考查点】推理判断题。
【解题思路】文章开头首先提出了一个常见解释，即跳舞是一种“文化普遍性”（cultural universal），但立即引入了曼彻斯特研究员尼尔·托德的观点，他认为这种冲动可能更根深蒂固，是一种反射反应。这表明文章开头在质疑文化普遍性的解释，并引入新的生物学视角。因此B选项“有争议的文化普遍性”正确。
【干扰项排除】
A选项“音乐的新解释”，文章开头并未直接给出对音乐的新解释，而是先讨论跳舞冲动的原因，且新解释是后续才展开的，属于出处错位；
C选项“常见的心理异常”，文中没有提及任何心理异常问题，焦点是生物学冲动，属于无中生有；
D选项“对人类身体运动的深刻洞察”，文章开头没有深入分析人体运动，只是引入问题，属于曲解原文。
第2题:
【选项释义】
What intrigued Todd was ________. 引起托德兴趣的是________。
A. human instinct reflexes A. 人类本能的反应
B. people’s biological heritages B. 人的生物遗传
C. people’s compulsion about loud music C. 人们对嘈杂音乐的冲动
D. the damages loud music wrecks on human hearing D. 嘈杂音乐对听力的伤害
【考查点】推理判断题。
【解题思路】根据题干关键词Todd可以定位到文章第二段，明确指出托德在观察人们在震耳欲聋的音乐中跳舞时，首先意识到生物学可能是关键，并提到“有一种强烈的欲望、冲动（compulsion）”。这表明托德被人们对大声音乐的强迫性反应所吸引。因此C选项“人们对嘈杂音乐的冲动”正确。
【干扰项排除】
A选项“人类本能的反应”是托德后续提出的理论，而非最初吸引他的点，属于出处错位；
B选项“人的生物遗传”，文中没有讨论生物遗传问题，焦点是内耳的反射反应，属于无中生有；
D选项“嘈杂音乐对听力的伤害”，文中并未涉及听力损伤，只关注球囊对声音的反应，属于无中生有。
第3题:
【选项释义】
Todd’s biological explanation for the desire to dance refers to ________. 托德对舞蹈欲望的生物学解释参考了________。
A. the mechanism of hearing sounds A. 听觉机制
B. the response evoked from the sacculus B. 从球囊唤起的反应
C. the two main functions performed by the human ear C. 人耳的两个主要功能
D. the segregation of the hearing and balance maintaining function D. 听力和平衡维持功能的分离
【考查点】推理判断题。
【解题思路】根据题干关键词explanation for the desire to dance可以定位到文章第三段，指出球囊是平衡系统的一部分，但对高分贝声音敏感，这种刺激可能引发跳舞的冲动。这表明托德的生物学解释核心是内耳中的球囊（sacculus）对声音的反应。因此B选项“从球囊唤起的反应”正确。
【干扰项排除】
A选项“听觉机制”，文中提到了听力机制，但托德的解释更具体于球囊的反应，而非一般听力机制，属于曲解原文；
C选项“人耳的两个主要功能”，文中虽提到耳朵的听力和平衡功能，但托德的解释聚焦于球囊的独特反应，而不是整体功能，属于曲解原文；
D选项“听力和平衡维持功能的分离”，文中提到标准观点是功能分离，但托德的理论恰恰质疑这一点，强调球囊有声音敏感性，属于反向干扰。
第4题:
【选项释义】
When the sacculus is acoustically stimulated, according to Todd, ________. 据托德说，当球囊受到声音刺激时，________。
A. functional balance will be maintained in the ear A. 耳内功能平衡得以维持
B. pleasure will be aroused B. 愉悦感就会被唤起
C. decibels will shoot up C. 分贝会急剧上升
D. hearing will occur D. 会有听力
【考查点】推理判断题。
【解题思路】根据题干关键词the sacculus可以定位到文章第四、五段，托德推测，球囊受声音刺激时，会带来“前庭自我刺激”（vestibular self-stimulation），增强运动感并引起愉悦。文章引用他的话说“我们不知道确切为什么它引起愉悦，但人们不遗余力地追求它”（“We don’t know exactly why it causes pleasure,” he says. “But we know that people go to extraordinary lengths to get it.”）。因此B选项“愉悦感就会被唤起”正确。
【干扰项排除】
A选项“耳内功能平衡得以维持”，文中没有说球囊受刺激会维持平衡，而是强调它增强运动感，属于曲解原文；
C选项“分贝会急剧上升”，分贝是声音的度量，球囊受刺激不会导致分贝上升；分贝是外部声音的特性，属于张冠李戴；
D选项“会有听力”，听力主要由耳蜗负责，球囊受刺激不会直接导致听力发生，属于张冠李戴。
第5题:
【选项释义】
What is the passage mainly about? 这篇文章主要讲的是什么？
A. The human ear does more than hearing than expected. A. 人耳的功能比我们想象的要多。
B. Dancing is capable of heightening the sensation of hearing. B. 跳舞能增强听觉。
C. Loud music stimulates the inner ear and generates the urge to dance. C. 嘈杂的音乐刺激内耳，产生跳舞的冲动。
D. The human inner ear does more to help hear than to help maintain balance. D. 人的内耳更多的是帮助倾听，而不是帮助保持平衡。
【考查点】主旨大意题。
【解题思路】文章主旨是托德的理论：大声音乐刺激内耳（特别是球囊），这种刺激可能引发反射性运动，从而产生跳舞的冲动。文章从头到尾都围绕这一生物学解释展开。因此C选项“嘈杂的音乐刺激内耳，产生跳舞的冲动。”正确。
【干扰项排除】
A选项“人耳的功能比我们想象的要多。”，文中虽提到耳朵的额外功能，但重点不是耳朵的多功能，而是跳舞冲动的原因，属于曲解原文；
B选项“跳舞能增强听觉。”，文中没有讨论跳舞能增强听力感觉，而是相反，音乐刺激影响跳舞冲动，属于出处错位；
D选项“人的内耳更多的是帮助倾听，而不是帮助保持平衡。”，文中没有比较内耳在听力和平衡方面的贡献，而是强调球囊在平衡系统中对声音的反应，属于曲解原文。
