為什么你年輕時聽的音樂會有持久的影響？

Generations of music lovers say music was so much better when they were younger. They can’t all be right—or maybe they are？

“It’s not that music was better when we were younger; it’s music that elicits strong emotions，” said Dr. Rita Aiello， a music psychologist at New York University who examines how people process music and how music and memories shape each other. “Music is an extremely powerful cue for remembering what has happened before in our lives，” she said.

But why does music hold such power？ “Music is episodic，” said Dr. Robert Cutietta， a professor of music at the University of Southern California. “If you look at an artwork or something， you can look at it and leave. Music is over time. There’s a part of our brain called episodic memory—that’s where it goes.”

Cutietta， who was born in 1953， cited the work of the Beatles and conductor Leonard Bernstein as his favorites. Those artists helped shape his musical tastes as a teenager. This attachment to your identity may be why you feel less of a connection to contemporary music as you grow older.

What if you think of the 1970s and 1980s as the holy grail of “real music，” even though all decades contain good and bad songs？ It may be because you’re remembering the artists， songs and albums that were meaningful to you and forgetting the ones that weren’t. “There are circumstances that made certain songs particularly meaningful to you and the memories of those circumstances will come back as you listen to the songs，” Aiello said. Those meaningful songs still resonate with you， Cutietta said， eclipsing the forgettable ones.

“Every era has horrible songs that became huge hits，” Cutietta said. “They’re still there somewhere in our memory， but we choose not to pull those up. Naturally， we’re going to pull up the songs we like.”

（材料選自CNN網(wǎng)站，有刪改）

1. Why do people think music was better when they were young？

A. Music helped them remember things they enjoyed.

B. Music made them appreciate what happened in their life.

C. Music was a powerful cue for people they got together with.

D. Music reminded them what happened when they were young.

2. What does paragraph 3 tell us？

A. The value of music.

B. The magic of music.

C. The logic of music’s power.

D. The effect of music’s power.

3. What can be inferred from paragraph 4？

A. Leonard Bernstein was popular in the 1970s.

B. Leonard Bernstein’s favorite was the Beatles.

C. Cutietta was attached to contemporary music.

D. Cutietta influenced by artists became a conductor.

4. What does Cutietta agree with？

A. Bad news had wings.

B. Practice makes perfect.

C. Art is long and life is short.

D. Every man has his hobbyhorse.

1. D。（剩余377字）