音樂是人類共同的“語言”，但是不同地方的音樂，其風格也不一樣。最近科學家發現，來自不同文化的音樂，還是有着很多共通之處。
Humans may share a 'musical grammar'
by Theresa Machemer
No matter where you are, a bop is a bop. Whether a melody makes people get up and dance, soothes（撫慰） their sadness, fall in love, or lull（使放鬆） them to sleep, similar rhythms and tones make music a universal language, as the saying goes. Now, there might be science to back it up.
bop /bɒp/ n. 隨着音樂起舞
melody /ˈmelədi/ n. 旋律
sadness /ˈsædnəs/ n. 悲傷、難過（由sad加後綴-ness變成名詞）
rhythm /ˈrɪð(ə)m/ n. 節奏、韻律
tone /təʊn/ n. 音調
universal /ˌjuːnɪˈvɜːs(ə)l/ adj. 普遍存在的、廣泛使用的
saying /ˈseɪɪŋ/ n. 格言、諺語
back something up 證明某事、證實某事
A team of researchers find that not only is music universal but also that similar songs are used in similar contexts around the world, according to a study published in the journal Science.
researcher /rɪˈsɜːtʃə(r)/ n. 研究者（由research加上表示人的後綴-er）
context /ˈkɒntekst/ n. 情境、背景
publish /ˈpʌblɪʃ/ v. 發表
journal /ˈdʒɜːn(ə)l/ n. 期刊
To better understand the similarities in music that could provide insight into its biological roots, the researchers focused on music with lyrics. They started by looking at ethnographic（民族學的） descriptions of music in 315 cultures worldwide, all of which featured vocal music, before analyzing musical recordings from 60 well-documented cultures.
similarity /ˌsɪmɪˈlærəti/ n. 相似、相似性（由similar加後綴-ity變成名詞）
insight /ˈɪnsaɪt/ n. 洞見、深刻理解
biological /ˌbaɪəˈlɒdʒɪk(ə)l/ adj. 生物的（由biology加後綴-ical變成形容詞）
roots /ruːts/ n. 根源
focus on 聚焦於、專注於
lyrics /ˈlɪrɪks/ n. 歌詞
worldwide /ˌwɜːldˈwaɪd/ adv. 世界範圍地、全世界地
feature /ˈfiːtʃə(r)/ v. 以…爲特徵
vocal /ˈvəʊk(ə)l/ adj. 人聲的、唱歌的
analyze /ˈæn(ə)laɪz/ v. 分析
document /ˈdɒkjument/ v. 詳細記錄
The team used a combination of methods – including machine learning, expert musicologists（音樂學家） and 30,000 amateur listeners from the United States and India – to analyze a public database of music.
combination /ˌkɒmbɪˈneɪʃ(ə)n/ n. 組合（由combine加後綴-ation變成名詞）
amateur /ˈæmətə(r)/ adj. 業餘的
listener /ˈlɪs(ə)nə(r)/ n. 聽者（由listen加上表示人的後綴-er）
database /ˈdeɪtəbeɪs/ n. 數據庫
In one part of the study, online amateur listeners were asked to categorize random music samples as lullabies（催眠曲）, dance songs, healing songs, or love songs. Dance songs were the easiest to catch. In other parts of the study, the music samples were annotated（批註） by listeners and transcribed（轉寫） into a musical staff, which is a form of musical notation（符號系統） in Western cultures. When this data was fed to a computer, it was able to tell different kinds of songs apart at least two-thirds of the time.
categorize /ˈkætəɡ(ə)raɪz/ v. 分類、歸類（由category加後綴-ize變成動詞）
random /ˈrændəm/ adj. 隨機的
sample /ˈsɑːmp(ə)l/ n. 樣本
heal /hiːl/ v. 治癒
staff /stɑːf/ n. 五線譜
form /fɔːm/ n. 形式
data /ˈdeɪtə/ n. 數據
feed /fiːd/ v. 把…放進機器
tell apart 分辨
Basically, the team found that humans share a "musical grammar," explains the study's lead author Samuel Mehr, a psychologist at Harvard University. "Music is built from similar, simple building blocks the world over," he says.
basically /ˈbeɪsɪk(ə)li/ adv. 基本上、本質上（由basic加後綴-ally變成副詞）
grammar /ˈɡræmə(r)/ n. 語法
psychologist /saɪˈkɒlədʒɪst/ n. 心理學家（由psychology加上表示人的後綴-ist）
building block 組成部分
the world over 遍及全世界
"Music is something that has bedeviled（困擾） anthropologists（人類學家） and biologists since Darwin," says Luke Glowacki, an anthropologist at Pennsylvania State University and a co-author on the paper. "If there were no underlying principles of the human mind, there would not be these regularities."
biologist /baɪˈɒlədʒɪst/ n. 生物學家（由biology加上表示人的後綴-ist）
Darwin 達爾文（進化論的奠基人）
co- 前綴，意思是共同
paper /ˈpeɪpə(r)/ n. 論文
underlying /ˌʌndəˈlaɪɪŋ/ adj. 隱含的、潛藏的
principle /ˈprɪnsəp(ə)l/ n. 原理、法則
regularity /ˌreɡjuˈlærəti/ n. 規律性、規則性（由regular加後綴-ity變成名詞）
Critics have questioned the use of machine learning algorithms（算法） and Western notation because of the biases that come with both. Ethnomusicologist（民族音樂學家） Elizabeth Tolbert of John Hopkins' Peabody Institute, who wasn't involved in the study, says that the research team "may be over-interpreting their results" by searching for common patterns in such a diverse variety of music.
critic /ˈkrɪtɪk/ n. 批評者、反對者
question /ˈkwestʃən/ v. 質疑
bias /ˈbaɪəs/ n. 偏向
over- 前綴，表示過度
interpret /ɪnˈtɜːprɪt/ v. 解讀
pattern /ˈpæt(ə)n/ n. 模式
diverse /daɪˈvɜːs/ adj. 多樣性的
Co-author Manvir Singh, a cognitive and evolutionary anthropologist at Harvard University, says that the music database is open-access. "We'd be glad for anyone to test our conclusions using an alternative method," he says.
cognitive /ˈkɒɡnətɪv/ adj. 認知的
evolutionary /ˌiːvəˈluːʃ(ə)n(ə)ri/ adj. 進化的（由evolution加後綴-ary變成形容詞）
open-access 指公開給所有人訪問的
conclusion /kənˈkluːʒ(ə)n/ n. 結論
alternative /ɒlˈtɜːnətɪv/ adj. 可供選擇的、可替代的
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