If there is one group of workers across the Western world who will be glad that Christmas is over, that group is shop workers.

It is not that they like to complain. They realize that they are going to be rushed off their feet at Christmas. They know that their employers need happy customers to make their profits that pay their wages. But there is one thing about working in a shop over Christmas that is too bad to tolerate.

That thing is music. These days, all shops and many offices have what is known as “Piped music¹”or "muzak" playing for all the hours that they are open. Muzak has an odd history. During the 1940s, music was played to cows as part of a scientific experiment. It was found that cows which listened to simple, happy music produced more milk. Perhaps workers and customers who listened to simple, happy music would be more productive and spend more money.  

In fact, nobody knows what effect playing muzak in shops has on profits. It is simply something that everybody does. But we are learning more about the effect of constantly repeated hearings of songs on the people who have to hear them all the time.

Research shows that repeated hearings of complex pieces of music bring greater enjoyment before becoming tiresome. And that point come much sooner with simple songs².

"That's especially the case with tunes that are already familiar. Once that tipping point³ is reached, repeated listening become unpleasant, says Professor John Sloboda of UK's Keele University's music psychology group. "And the less control you have over what you hear, the less you like it."

That's why police forces in the US often try and resolve hostage situations by playing pop songs over and over again at high volume. Eventually, it becomes too much for the criminals to stand and they give up.

The problem gets particularly bad at Christmas, when the muzak consists entirely of the same few festive tunes played over and over again. What makes it worse for the shop workers is that the]( already know these tunes. They get bored very quickly. Then they get irritated. Then they get angry.

Shop workers in Austria recently threatened to go on strike for the right to silence. "Shop workers can't escape the Christmas muzak. They feel as if they are terrorized all day. Especially‘Jingle Bells⁴’. It arouses aggressive feelings," said Gottfried Rieser, of the Austrian shop worker's union.

It is not just shop workers who complain. A survey this year by UK recruitment website Retailchoice.com found that Christmas is not only the most testing time for shop workers, but that almost half had complaints from customers about muzak. And the British Royal National Institute for the Deaf estimates that some stores play jingle Bells 300 times each year.

"That's acoustic torture," says Nigel Rodgers of Pipedown, a group against muzak."It's not loud but the repetitive nature causes psychological stress."

The group wants the government to legislate against unwanted music in stores, hospitals, airports, swimming pools and other public places, claiming it raises the blood pressure and depresses the immune system, -

Perhaps groups like Pipedown don't really have much to complain about. After all, surely the real point is that people have money to spend. Why complain about a bit of music?

 

muzak n. 背景音乐   

tiresome adj. 使人疲劳的

irritate v. 使恼火   

immune adj. 免疫的

 

1. piped music通过线路输送的音乐

2. And that point come much sooner with simple songs.那一点（时刻）在听简单的歌曲时来得更快。That point 指上一句中讲到的听复杂的音乐时先觉得好听，然后就会感到厌烦这个出现变化的时刻。

3. tipping point从量变到产生质变的那一刻。这里指反复听已经熟悉的曲调，从喜爱变为讨厌的那一刻。

4. Jingle Bells 《铃儿响叮当》，西方国家十分流行的一首圣诞节歌曲。

 

1. The shop workers in the Western world are glad when Christmas is over because they don't have to

  A) rush their feet off all day.

  B) listen to the music playing all the time in the shop.

  C) work overtime to make more profits for the boss.

  D) try to please the customers.

2. It has been proved that listening to simple, happy has a good effect on

  A) cows.

  B) workers.

  C) customers.

  D) bosses.

3. Which of the following statements is true, according to the research findings reported-in paragraph 6?

  A) Repeated hearings of complex pieces of music are enjoyable and not tiresome.

  B) Repeated hearings of complex pieces of music are tiresome at first and then become enjoyable.

  C) Repeated hearings of simple songs are more enjoyable than those of complex pieces of music.

  D) Repeated hearings of simple songs become tiresome sooner than those of complex pieces of music.

4. In hostage situations the US police forces repeatedly play pop songs at high volume in order to

A) put pressure on the criminals.

B) distract the attention of the criminals

C) keep the criminals awake.

D) please the criminals.

5. According to the article, which of the following most appropriately indicates the nature of the effect repeated hearing of the same tune produces on the hearer?

  A) Social.

  B) Physical.

  C) Psychological.

  D) Both physical and psychological.

 

1. B　答案在文章的开头就可以找到。第二段的最后一句话和第三段的第一句话讲的很清楚。

2. A　奶牛吃了音乐会多产奶，这是早在二十世纪四十年代就被实验证明的了。但听音乐对工人、顾客和利润有没有正面的效应，并没有得到科学的验证。注意文章的作者在第三段里用了Perhaps这个词，说明对下面的话持不肯定态度。第四段的第一句话则讲得更加明确。

3. D　答案在第五段里可以找到。先觉得好听。然后觉得厌烦，这一时刻，听简单的歌曲比听复杂的音乐出现的更快。

4. A　根据文章所述，在劫持人质的情况下，美国警察常常对罪犯用大音量播放流行歌曲，目的是让罪犯最终难以承受而放弃劫持。

5. D　从全文来看，反复听同一个曲调对听者产生的影响有心理方面的，也有生理方面的。