环球英语 — 71：The Meaning of Sound
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Hello. I’m Marina Santee.
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And I’m Elizabeth Lickiss. Welcome to Spotlight. This programme uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
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Imagine you are walking by the sea. You feel the soft white sand under your feet. You breathe in the fresh sea air. The sounds of nature make you feel peaceful. But then ...
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A group of young people arrive. They sit near you. And they have their loud music player with them. Suddenly the place feels very different. Everything still looks the same. You have not moved. You are still surrounded by the beauty of nature. But this new sound destroys the peaceful setting. You put your hands over your ears! You think, ‘What a horrible sound!’
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But is it? Is the sound really horrible? Imagine the setting a little differently. The young people with the music are your friends. You go to the seaside together. You plan to sit and listen to your music. So, now you are prepared for the sound! And, you are looking forward to it! The sound is no longer horrible. It is fun!
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Conditions and environment can strongly influence how a person reacts to sound. Having control over noise seems to make it better. In today’s programme, we look at the way people react to horrible sounds - and why.
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There are not many studies of horrible sounds. There was one in the 1980’s. This was a joint research project. It was written by D. Lynn Halpern, Randolph Blake and James Hillenbrand. They published their research. They called the study, ‘Psychoacoustics of a Chilling Sound.’ In other words, ‘What makes a sound seem bad to us?’
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The scientists performed experiments on willing people. They chose one of the most disliked sounds. Do you recognise it? Can you remember sitting in a classroom at school? The teacher would stand at the front. She would write on a blackboard. There was always someone who waited for the teacher to leave the room. They would run to the front of the room. And then, they put their fingers at the top of the black board. They moved their fingernails slowly down the board. Listening to this sound still makes you feel horrible!
The scientists wanted to know if this is the most disliked sound. So, they chose sixteen [16] different kinds of noises. Some of these sounds were nice - like flowing water. And other sounds were not - like rubbing metal on something sharp. The scientists asked the people to choose the worst recorded sound. Fingernails on a blackboard won! This was the worst sound.
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Next, the scientists made the sound into a computer signal. This permitted them to make changes to the sound. They experimented with high and low versions of the sound. They played the new recordings to the group of people. They were surprised with their findings.
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Removing the lower sounds from the recording improved it. The people said the sound was not as horrible. But they did not see any effect from removing the higher sounding parts. So, the experiments showed that it was the lower sounds in the original noise that produced the horrible feeling. This was surprising. It is usually higher sounding noise that people say they do not like.
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‘Bad Vibes’ is a science project from Salford University, England. Researchers are examining ‘horrible’ sounds and people’s reactions. They have designed a website to help with their research. People can listen to different sounds. Then they vote which is the worst one. Professor Trevor Cox is leading the research. He said,
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‘We will examine people’s votes. This will teach us more about the way people hear different sounds. We hope to learn about the worst sound in the world - and maybe why it is the worst sound.’
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Part of the researchers’ work involves studying the reasons for so called ‘negative’ or ‘bad’ feelings. One such emotion is ‘disgust.’ Disgust is the emotion that you feel when you step into a pile of dog waste. Yuck!
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Exactly what disgusts us depends partly on our culture. Imagine someone eating a piece of bread. They have their mouth open. You watch the bread move around their mouth. You can hear the sound as they open and close their mouth. In some cultures people would find this disgusting!
But why do sounds disgust us? Imagine the sound of someone being sick. Or, imagine the sound of a deep cough.
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Disgust is a strong human emotion. It can lower blood pressure. And it can cause feelings of sickness. Researchers say that this emotion is in our nature. And the main reason for it is to protect us from disease! This may also explain why women feel this emotion more. They have an in-built desire to protect their children as well as themselves.
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The researchers at Salford University also examined fear and sound. Fear is another powerful emotion. Particular sounds can cause fear.
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Imagine you are walking through a quiet country forest. Suddenly you hear the sound of an airplane. It sounds very close - much closer than it should be. It gets louder and louder. You fear it will crash! As you hear the plane passing right over, you bend close to the ground - your hands over your head. This is your natural reaction. The fear caused you to act quickly to protect yourself.
Sometimes, our immediate reaction to a frightening sound is to freeze. At this point, our senses become more able. When we know where the danger comes from we react more quickly. Usually, our bodies naturally prepare to act in the best, fastest way.
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So, the reasons why we do not like particular noises make sense. But researchers are still unclear as to what exactly makes a noise horrible. It will be interesting to read the results of more research. Until then, do not feel stupid when you react strongly to some sounds! Your natural, God given, reactions are there for a reason - human survival!
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