B1 English test 7 – Text with multiple-choice gaps

About twenty-five years ago, the results of an exciting new study were reported in the news: If children listen to the music of Mozart, they 1 will becomewould becomebecame more intelligent. Immediately, huge numbers of Mozart CDs were purchased by people 2 whowhichwhat wanted their children to be smarter. The statement was generally assumed to be true. After all, 3 most of themost ofmost people think Mozart was a genius, and maybe if we listened to his music, his intelligence 4 mighthad bettershould transfer to us.

However, if you read about the experiment 5 it-that led to this claim, there is little evidence it’s true. Firstly, children 6 were not testedwould not be testeddid not test in the original experiment. University students were. The thirty-six young adults who took part did one of three things for ten minutes. Some sat in silence, 7 otherothersanother listened to some relaxation instructions and a third group listened to Mozart’s piano music. Afterwards, they all completed various tasks, one of which involved paper shapes. This experiment 8 had repeatedrepeatedwas repeated three times. It was found that the students 9 listenedwho they listenedwho listened to Mozart did better in the paper shapes activity than 10 otherothersthe other students. However, the beneficial effect only lasted for about fifteen minutes.

11 FromSinceFor then, a number of similar experiments have been conducted which confirm that listening to Mozart’s music 12 used tomustcan lead to a temporary improvement in a person’s ability to do spatial puzzles. They don’t however, improve intelligence. Other studies showed that there is 13 nothingnot anything special about Mozart’s music. 14 ListenListeningTo listen to other classical music, pop music and even stories can also wake up the brain. The effect is especially strong if the listener likes the sound.

So, listening to Mozart won’t harm your children. It could even lead to a love of classical music. But if they have an important test ahead, you 15 mightshouldmay probably tell them to study instead of listening to some music on.