Progress Test Files 6-10 A

Progress Test Files 6-10

Grammar, Vocabulary, and Pronunciation A

GRAMMAR

VOCABULARY

cause and effect forwards and backwards pros and cons

PRONUNCIATION

Reading and Writing A

READING

There have been many scientific studies related to how the human brain responds to music. But what about animals? Do they respond, and if so, are there any similarities between animals and humans? Studies have come up with a few interesting results. In one study in the US, researchers monitored the effect of music on the behaviour of dogs. They played different types of music to the dogs, including classical and heavy metal. They also observed their behaviour when no music was playing. The study found several similarities between dogs and humans when they heard music. For example, classical music seemed to reduce stress and promote sleep, and heavy metal music increased anxiety and caused restlessness. Interestingly, a similar study in Scotland concluded that dogs prefer soft rock and reggae music. Perhaps it’s just a matter of taste! Cats, on the other hand, are fairly indifferent to human music of all types. In 2015, a team of psychologists and musicians in the US developed a specific type of music which contained frequencies and rhythms similar to the ones that cats use for communication. When the team played examples of both classical music and ‘cat’ music, the cats ignored the ‘human’ music. However, they responded physically to the specially developed cat music by going close to the speakers and rubbing themselves against them. In terms of physical reactions to music, humans might tap a beat, nod their head, or dance, but so do birds. To explore this, researchers at Harvard University in the US used an unconventional source for their studies – YouTube videos. They analyzed videos of Snowball, a type of parrot, moving to music, and found that he could follow the beat of a song even when it was slowed down or sped up. The common factor between parrots and humans is that they can imitate sound and move in time to a beat. This suggested that there is a connection between the brain mechanisms required for dance and sound imitation. But parrots aren’t the only birds that respond to music. The UK’s traditional Christmas dinner bird – the turkey – doesn’t move to a beat but it does enjoy music. Organic farm worker Elin Williams plays her guitar to the turkeys on the organic farm where she works. The main aim on the farm is to create an environment which is as stress-free as possible, but unfortunately as it is located beside a main road, the birds are often disturbed by loud traffic. To combat this, the staff started playing classical music on the radio to the turkeys overnight. The birds responded well to it so the staff put the radio on during the day too. Then Elin’s boss suggested she play her guitar to them. She thought he was joking, but as soon as she started playing, the turkeys crowded around to listen and started pecking on the guitar strings with their beaks. Now she regularly plays pop and Welsh folk songs, and her boss thinks the turkeys are happier and more relaxed as a result. The benefits of playing music to farm animals isn’t limited to de-stressing turkeys either. The dairy industry is starting to take notice of some interesting results from trials which involve playing music to cows. In a recent study, different genres of music were played to a herd of around a thousand cows. The music was organized by speed: slow (under 100 beats per minute), including pop and classical music such as Beethoven, and fast (over 120 beats per minute), including soft rock and faster pop tunes. The cows seemed to prefer the slower,

more relaxing music as it resulted in an increase of over 3% in their milk production. That translates to approximately 0.73 litres more milk per cow a day – a significant increase in profit for the farmers, and happier cows too!

WRITING

Listening and Speaking A

LISTENING

(A–H) what each person is describing. Use the letters only once. There are three extra letters you do not need to use. A a childhood memory B a very old photograph C a fake news photograph D a school photograph E a wedding F a person they once knew G a journey H a place they once lived Speaker 1: [ ] Speaker 2: [ ] Speaker 3: [ ] Speaker 4: [ ] Speaker 5: [ ]

interviews his audience / does some physical exercise.

SPEAKING