在工作或学习时，很多人都曾戴上耳机，让音乐隔绝世界，深信能被带入深度专注状态。这似乎已成为一种共识或信仰。然而，科学研究揭示了一个更为复杂的真相：你心爱的播放列表，在提升效率与侵蚀专注之间，仅有一线之隔。
这次精读的文章来自《Harvard Business Review》Music Can Help You Focus—to an Extent 音乐使你专注？某种程度是的。文章引用了最新研究，对比了数据，得出结论是：音乐对工作的影响并非简单的“有益”或“有害”，而是由个人意志力和聆听时长共同主导和制约的。文章篇幅较短，难度适中，适合用来模仿如何用数据、对比和引述专家观点来层层推进一个论点。积累的词汇和句型尤其适用于分析图表（描述趋势）或撰写议论文（提出对比论证和原因分析）。
The right tunes can make a party lively or a commute more relaxing. But what impact does listening to music have on serious tasks, like focused work? It depends on how much of it you listen to—and on your willpower. 合适的旋律能让聚会热闹起来，或让通勤更放松。但是，聆听音乐对专注工作这类严肃任务会有什么影响呢？这取决于你听多少音乐——以及你的意志力。
写作Tips：
开头段经典三步走：背景陈述+引入话题+总论点/立场
commute v./n. 通勤（commuting time 通勤时间commuting hours 上下班高峰期 commute between 经常来往于两地之间）
have impact on sth. 对...有影响
willpower 意志力
In a lab study 252 U.S. participants created playlists on Spotify and then completed 19 rounds of proofreading, doing the first five rounds in silence and the next 14 while listening to their playlists. Initially, the music boosted their proofreading scores, but after the seventh round of listening to it, their performance began to dip, eventually becoming worse than when they had worked in silence（现在分词作结果状语，相比于用finally引导句子，-ing作状语表示结果的用法更地道、简练）. 在一项实验室研究中，252名美国参与者在Spotify上创建了播放列表，然后完成了19轮校对任务。前5轮在安静环境中进行，接下来的14轮则边听播放列表边工作。最初，音乐提升了他们的校对得分，但在听到第七轮之后，他们的表现开始下降，最终变得比在安静环境下工作时更差。
Another study tracked 247 U.S. employees over three weeks. Each week, participants were randomly assigned to listen to either little to no music, one hour more than usual per day, or three hours more than usual per day. They were also asked about their willpower (whether they felt energized or drained by mentally demanding tasks) and filled out daily surveys about their focus and performance. People who listened to music reported having better focus and performance than people who did not. But when the researchers looked closer, they found that music's effect on performance wasn't the same for everyone. 另一项研究对247名美国员工进行了为期三周的追踪。每周，参与者被随机分配听极少或完全不听音乐，比平时每天多听一小时，或比平时每天多听三小时。他们还回答了关于意志力的问题（即他们是否觉得耗费脑力的任务让他们精力充沛还是筋疲力尽），并填写了关于专注度和表现的每日调查。听音乐的人报告显示，他们的专注度和表现优于不听音乐的人。但当研究人员进一步分析时，他们发现音乐对表现的影响并非人人相同。
写作Tips：
陈述研究发现：Initially...but eventually... -ing作结果状语（起初...但最终...)
assign sth. to sb 分配...任务给某人
energized 充满热情/能量的
drain 流干，排水（这里是be drained by指“被耗尽能量”）
mentally demanding 费脑力的
performance 表现，学习成绩
Participants who appeared to have strong willpower (they felt energized by hard tasks) maintained their focus and performance regardless of how much music they heard. But for those whose willpower seemed limited, listening more than usual was associated with significant declines in（在某方面有下降/上升固定用介词“in”） focus and performance. 那些似乎拥有强大意志力（他们觉得困难的任务能激发活力）的参与者，无论听多少音乐，都能保持专注和表现。但对于那些意志力似乎有限的人来说，比平时多听音乐与专注度和表现的显著下降相关。
The researchers say that this is probably because listening to music makes demands on cognitive resources, "siphoning attention away from work tasks and leading to performance declines." That can be especially pernicious for people who feel they are easily depleted by strenuous tasks. Such people should pay attention to how much music they listen to while working, say the researchers. If the amount starts to tip beyond the usual, it may be time to hit the off button. 研究人员表示，这可能是因为听音乐会占用认知资源，“将注意力从工作任务中分流出去，导致表现下降。”对于那些自觉容易被繁重任务耗尽心力的人来说，这种影响尤其有害。研究人员建议，这类人应该注意工作时听音乐的量。如果音乐量开始超过平时水平，可能就是该按下关闭键的时候了。
写作Tips：
表达因果关系：...is probably because...（很可能是因为），...，leading to（...，导致了...）论证中解释机制的常用表达。
maintain 保持（=stay/remain/keep）
regardless of 不管，无论（no matter）
cognitive resources 认知资源，指人们在进行认知任务时所需要的心理能力和资源，包括注意力、工作记忆、长期记忆、思考和决策等。
siphon 抽出（用虹吸管），这里是形象的表达，将某部分抽离走/分流走
pernicious 有害的
be depleted by 被耗尽
strenuous 繁重费力的（可联想“stress”记忆）
10个月宝宝每天需要喝多少奶粉？
