Réponses pour [Recent Tests- VOL] - What makes a musical expert?

Réponses et explications détaillées pour [Recent Tests- VOL] - What makes a musical expert?

Answer Table

1. C

2. C

3. A

4. A

5. NOT GIVEN

6. YES

7. NOT GIVEN

8. NO

9. NO

10. YES

11. E

12. D

13. A

14. G

Explain

[Recent Tests- VOL] - What makes a musical expert?

How does someone become an expert in music? And is it really possible to have a 'talent' for music?

Does that class of people acknowledged to be musical experts just have more of the same basic skills we are all endowed with, or do they have a set of abilities - or neural structures - that are totally different from those of the rest of us? Do we have levels of musical achievement simply the result of training and practice, or are they based on innate brain structures - what we refer to as 'talent'? 1-14Talent can be defined as something that originates in genetic structures 1and that is identifiable by trained people who can recognize its existence before a person has achieved exceptional levels of performance. The emphasis on early identification means that to investigate it, we study the development of skills in children.

It is evident that some children acquire skills more rapidly than others: the age of onset for walking and talking varies widely, even between children in the same household. There may be genetic factors at work, but these are closely linked with other factors - with a presumably environmental component - such as motivation and family dynamics. Similar factors can influence musical development and can mask the contribution of genetics to musical ability.

Brain studies, so far, haven't been of much use in sorting out the issues. Gottfried Schlaug at Harvard collected brain scans of individuals with absolute pitch (AP) and showed that a region in the brain called 2the planum temporale is larger in these people than in others. This suggests that the planum is involved in AP, but it's not clear if it starts out larger in people who eventually acquire AP, or if the acquisition of AP makes the planum increase in size.

Results of research into the areas of the brain involved in skilled motor movement are more conclusive. Studies of violin players have shown that 3the region of the brain responsible for controlling movement of the left hand (the hand that controls greater precision in violin playing) increases in size as a result of practice. We do not know yet if the propensity for increase pre-exists in some people or others.

4The evidence against talent comes from research on how much training the experts do. Like experts in mathematics, chess, or sports, experts in music require lengthy periods of instruction and practice. In several studies, the very best music students were found to have practiced more than twice as much as the others. In another study, students were examined at a world-class music academy based on their current performance. Several years later, it was found that the students who achieved the highest performance ratings had practiced the most, irrespective of which 'talent' group they had been assigned to, individuals with absolute pitch: people who can identify or sing any musical note correctly without help 4suggesting that practice does not merely correlate with achievement, but causes it.

5Anders Ericsson, at Florida State University, approaches the topic of musical expertise as a general problem in cognitive psychology. He takes as a starting-point the assumption that there are certain issues involved in becoming an expert at anything that we can learn about musical expertise by studying expert chess players, athletes, artists, mathematicians, as well as the musicians themselves. 6The emerging picture from such studies is that ten thousand hours of practice is required to achieve the level of mastery associated with being a world-class expert in anything. In study after study, of composers, ice skaters, concert pianists, chess players and master criminals, this number comes up again and again. 7Someone would do this amount of practice if they practiced, for example, roughly 20 hours a week for ten years. 8Of course, this does not address why some people do not seem to get anywhere when they practice, and why some people get more out of their practice sessions than others. 9But no-one has yet found a case in which true world-class expertise was accomplished in less time. It seems that it takes the brain this long to assimilate all that it needs to know to achieve true mastery.

10The ten-thousand-hour theory is consistent with what we know about how the brain learns. Learning involves the assimilation and consolidation of information in neural networks, and the more experiences we have with something, the stronger the memory/learning trace for that experience becomes. Although experts appear to be gifted, it may be that it takes them to consolidate information naturally, 10it remains true that increased practice leads to a greater number of neural traces, which create stronger memory representation.

The classic riposte to this theory goes something like this: What about Mozart? I hear that he composed his first symphony at the age of four! 12First, there is a factual error here: Mozart did not write it until he was eight. Still, this is unusual, to say the least. 13However, this early work received little acclaim, and was not performed very often. In fact, the only reason we know about it is because the child who wrote it grew up to become Mozart. 11And Mozart had an expert teacher in his father, who showed an absorbed interest in his son's musical education from how much Mozart practiced, but if he started at age two and worked thirty- two hours a week (quite possible, given that his father was a stern taskmaster) he would have made his ten thousand hours by the time he composed his first symphony. This does not mean that the only ingredient in expertise is practice, but that practice may well be the most important, if not the only crucial case.

Questions 1-4

Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D. Write the correct letter in boxes 1-4 on your answer sheet.

1In the first paragraph, the writer suggests that a musician who IS talented is someone

A. who is aware of being set apart from other people.

B. whose brain structure is unlike that of other people.

C. who can perform extremely well in early childhood.

D. whose essential skills are more varied than those of ordinary people.

2According to the writer, what is unclear about the findings of Gottfried Schlaug?

A. which part of the brain is linked to a particular musical skill.

B. which type of musical skill leads to the greatest change in the brain.

C. whether a feature of the brain is a cause or an effect of a musical skill.

D. whether the acquisition of a musical skill is easier for some people than others.

3According to the writer, what has been established by studies of violin players?

A. Changes may occur in the brain following violin practice.

B. Left-handed violinists have a different brain structure from other people.

C. A violinist's hand size is not due to practice but to genetic factors.

D. Violinists are born with brains that have a particular structure.

4According to the writer, findings on the amount of practices done by expert musicians suggest that

A. talent may have little to do with expertise.

B. practice may actually prevent the development of talent.

C. talent may not be recognised by teachers.

D. expertise may be related to quality of instruction.

Questions 5-10

Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in Reading Passage 3? In boxes 5-10 on your answer sheet, write

YES if the statement agrees with the claims of the writer

NO if the statement contradicts the claims of the writer

NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this

5

Anders Ericsson's work with cognitive psychology has influenced other researchers.

Correct answer: NOT GIVEN

6

Different areas of expertise seem to have one specific thing in common.

Correct answer: YES

7

In order to be useful, practice must be carried out regularly every day.

Correct answer: NOT GIVEN

8

Anyone who practices for long enough can reach the level of a world-class expert.

Correct answer: NO

9

Occasionally, someone can become an expert at a global level with fewer than 10,000 hours' practice.

Correct answer: NO

10

Existing knowledge of learning and cognitive skills supports the importance of practice.

Correct answer: YES

Questions 11-14

A. popular

B. artistic

C. completed

D. eight

E. tuition

F. encouragement

G. inherited

H. four

I. practice

J. ten

Complete the summary using the list of words, A-J, below. Write the correct letter, A-J, in boxes 11-14 on your answer sheet.

Mozart

The case of Mozart could be quoted as evidence against the 10,000-hour-practice theory. However, the writer points out that the young Mozart received a lot of 11 (E) from his father, and that the symphony he wrote at the age of 12 (D) was not 13 (A) and may be of only academic interest. The case therefore supports the view that expertise is not solely the result of 14 (G) characteristics.

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