新編大學英語第二冊unit7 Text A: Music to Your Gears
UNIT 7 IN-CLASS READING 2; New College English (II)
Music to Your Gears
1 Music may soothe the savage breast but it can also damage your health when you are at the wheel. Recent research suggests that loud music seriously affects a driver's concentration and psychologists have warned that such music, blasting away inside a car, can be dangerous, especially in traffic queues or on motorways.
2 There are two extremes in music, both of which can result in risk. Heavy metal, with its strong beat, leads to aggressive driving while, at the other end of the spectrum, soothing, melodious music relaxes a driver beyond a safe limit of awareness and into a sleepy haze of inattention.
3 The British Automobile Association, which is concerned with road safety, commissioned research into the relationship between serious accidents and music. It found that men in the 17-25 age bracket were the most dangerous and accident-prone group. It also found that this group listens to music seventy percent of the time it is on the move.
4 Up tempo, or heavy metal music, played loudly, can bring on a belligerent attitude. The driving style becomes aggressive and the driver is more apt to take risks. The pace of the driving is governed by the pace and beat of the music.
5 In trials, volunteer drivers subjected to loud music said that, although they didn't necessarily feel inclined to drive faster, they did find themselves making faster gear changes, accelerating more quickly and braking more abruptly. The same drivers, when subjected to slow ballads, admitted that they often found their attention wandering and, during a long motorway journey, at least two of the participants found themselves unconsciously wandering across lane markings.
6 The comments made by the volunteer drivers, some of whom were newly qualified, were very revealing. Simon, eighteen, told the AA, "The fast rock track out of Bat Out of Hell is potentially lethal. I found myself going faster and faster without even realizing it."
7 Another volunteer, who had been listening to ZZ Top's greatest hits, said, "I was speeding along singing at the top of my voice and didn't see or hear the fire engine that was trying to overtake me.
8 Other comments included: "I get lost in my own thoughts...", "It's possible to suffer a dulling of the senses...", "Not hearing other vehicles is a problem..." and "I was revving the engine in time to the beat."
9 Slower, more ambient tracks like Chopin stimulate a change in a person's brain pattern, encouraging Alpha waves and inducing a feeling of well-being. A state of relaxation might be good for us at most other times, but not at the wheel of the car. Psychologist Professor Shirley Fisher warned: "The greatest danger is fatigue at the wheel. Some music can lull you into concentration loss, or even mini-sleep, which can cause horrific accidents."
10 "It's a matter of selecting your music to suit the conditions. Stimulating music can be useful on long, boring roads but when traffic conditions are difficult, or traffic is heavy, it can distract you.
11 There is, however, an up side, as AA psychologist Dr Robert West pointed out: "If some music affects our ability to drive safely, then the reverse is also true. Carefully selected tracks may improve our driving, particularly in the high risk groups. For instance, if we could get young male drivers to listen to Mantovani, they would probably slow down. Sadly, I don't think I could persuade many of them to listen, though."
12 As well as the type of the music affecting road safety, the very fact that we have high-tech music systems built into our cars also causes accidents. A recent traffic and road safety report showed that almost forty percent of minor road accidents were caused by people taking their eyes off the road to change a cassette or disc!
13 Whatever our taste in music, or driving style, it looks as if safe driving habits are forced on us in the future. Rover, British Aerospace, Philips and Sweden's Road and Traffic Research Institute have combined to produce a car intelligence system that they have named ARIADNE (Application of Real-Time Intelligent Aid for Driving), a sophisticated electronic combined navigation-carphone-collision avoidance system that takes advantage of radar to warn the driver when a collision is possible. If the car ceases to be at a safe braking distance from the one in front, ARIADNE sends a vibration through the accelerator pedal to warn the driver to slow down. The vibration becomes more and more severe the closer the car gets to the vehicle in front until, if the warnings go unheeded, the engine cuts out and the hazard warning lights go on.
14 So remember, if music be the food of love, do it slowly, especially if you're driving, then we can all "play" on.
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