This lecture will be about the science of acoustics, the study of sound, in relation to urban environments such as cities. As an acoustic engineer myself, I think this is an area where we’re likely to see great changes. In the past, researching urban soundscapes was simple. We measured levels of sound in decibels, so I used to take my sound meter and I measured the noise somewhere, and then I might ask a sample of people to say at what level the sound became annoying.
With data like this, acoustic engineers have been able to build up what we call noise maps, maps of the sound environment. But actually these aren’t a lot of use. What they do show is that the highest noise levels are generally on roads – well, that’s not really very surprising. But there’s quite a lot going on that these maps don’t show, because they can’t capture the complex way that sound varies over time. So they ignore important issues such as the noise someone might hear from the open windows or gardens of their neighbours 【Q31】, and this sort of noise can be quite significant in summer. We don’t have any databases on this sort of information. As well as that, these records of sound levels take no account of the fact that people vary in their perceptions of noise – so someone like me with years of working in acoustics might be very different from you in that regard.
But anyway, even though these noise maps are fairly crude, they’ve been useful in providing information and raising awareness that noise matters, we need to deal with it and so it’s a political matter 【Q32】. And that’s important – we need rules and regulation because noise can cause all sorts of problems.
Those of you who are city-dwellers know that things go on 24 hours a day, so city-dwellers often suffer from interrupted sleep. It’s also known that noise can lead to a rise in levels of stress, due to physical changes in the body affecting the composition of the blood. And there are other problems as well, for instance if schoolchildren don’t have a quiet place to study, their work will suffer. 【Q33】
Now, one problem with decibel measurement is that it doesn’t differentiate between different types of noise. Some types of sounds that most people would probably think of as nice and relaxing might well score quite highly in decibel levels – think of the sound made by a fountain in a town square, for example 【Q34】. That’s not necessarily something that we’d want to control or reduce. So maybe researchers should consider these sorts of sounds in urban design. This is going to be tricky because just measuring decibel levels isn’t going to help us here. Instead, many researchers are using social science techniques, studying people’s emotional response to sound by using questionnaires and so on. 【Q35】
So what exactly do people want to hear in an urban environment? Some recent interdisciplinary research has come out with results that at first sight seem contradictory – a city needs to have a sense of activity, so it needs to be lively, with sounds like the clack of high heels on a pavement or the hiss of a coffee machine, but these mustn’t be too intrusive, because at the same time we need to be able to relax. 【Q36】
One of the major problems in achieving this will be getting architects and town planners to use the research. Apart from studying the basics of acoustics, these people receive very little training in this area 【Q37】. But in fact they should be regarding sound as an opportunity to add to the experience of urban living, whereas at present they tend to see it as something to be avoided or reduced as far as possible, or something that’s just a job for engineers like the street drainage system.
What’s needed is for noise in cities to be regarded as an aesthetic quality, as something that has the qualities of an art form. If we acknowledge this, then we urgently need to know what governs it and how designers can work with it. We need to develop a complex understanding of many factors. What is the relationship between sound and culture? 【Q38】 What can we learn from disciplines such as psychology about the way that sound interacts with human development and social relationships, and the way that sound affects our thought and feelings? Can we learn anything from physics about the nature of sound itself? 【Q39】
Today’s powerful technologies can also help us. To show us their ideas and help us to imagine the effect their buildings will have, architects and town planners already use virtual reality – but these programs are silent 【Q40】. In the future such programs could use realistic sounds, meaning that soundscapes could be explored before being built. So hopefully, using the best technology we can lay our hands on, the city of the future will be a pleasure to the ears as well as the eyes.
Complete the notes below.
Write ONE WORD ONLY for each answer.
听前预测：定位词 e.g.、windows、neighbours；提示词 do not show、noise、or。此处应填表地点的名词。
题目解析：首先我们听到了提示词 don’t show，然后听到了定位词 such as( 对应 e.g.), 接着我们重点要听的是教授所举的两个例子中的第二个，“the noise someone might hear from the open windows or gardens of their neighbours”，其中 or 的前半部分对应的是题干 when windows are open，后半部分就是我们答案词所在位置，因 此答案为 gardens。
听前预测：定位词 noise、issue；提示词 people、realize、be dealt with。此处应填形容词。
题目解析：我们在 But anyway 之后听到了重点信息“they’ve been useful in providing information and raising awareness that noise matters, we need to deal with it and so it’s a political matter.”其中 raising awareness 对应题干 have made people realize，matter 对应 issue，因此答案为 political。
听前预测：定位词 schoolchildren；提示词 effect、the。此处应填名词。
题目解析：本题较为简单，定位词之后答案马上出现了，具体对应信息为“if schoolchildren don’t have a quiet place to study, their work will suffer.”其中 suffer 和题干 effect 对应，因为 effect 本身既可以表示好的影响，也可以表示不好的影响，因此答案为 work 或其此处的同义表达 study。
听前预测：定位词 sound、town；提示词 pleasant、e.g.、a。此处应填单数名词。
题目解析：我们首先听到了“Some types of sounds that most people would probably think of as nice and relaxing”，对应题干 Some noises can be considered pleasant，然后听到 “think of the sound made by a fountain in a town square, for example”，其中 made by 对应题干 of，因此答案为 fountain。
听前预测：定位词 researchers；提示词 sciences、questionnaires。此处应填形容词，且答案应与 science 为一个词组。
题目解析：我们在转折连词 instead 之后听到了重点，这里的 instead 相当于 but，“many researchers are using social science techniques, studying people’s emotional response to sound by using questionnaires and so on.”其中 techniques 对应题干 methods， studying 对应 investigate，因此答案就是 science 前面的单词 social。
听前预测：定位词 activity；提示词 urban environments、but also、relax。此处应填形容词。
题目解析：首先我们听到了“a city needs to have a sense of activity”，对应题干 Plenty of activity in urban environments，然后我们听到了“so it needs to be lively”，我们重点要听的系表结构（be 动词 + adj.）中 be 后面的形容词，因此答案为 lively。
听前预测： 定位词 architects、town planners、acoustics；提示词 do not、get。此处应填名词。
题目解析：我们在听到以上三个定位词之后，来到了答案所在句子“Apart from studying the basics of acoustics, these people receive very little training in this area.”其中 these people 就是指代的前面的 architects and town planners，receive 同义替换提示词 get，very little 替换题干 not much，因此答案为 training。值得注意的是little/few 都表示“只有一些，几乎没有”，含否定之意；a little/a few 表示“虽然不多，但还有一些”，含肯定之意。其中 few/a few 后接可数名词，little/a little 后接不可数名词。
听前预测：定位词 sound；提示词 need to know、relates to。此处应填名词。
题目解析：首先我们听到了“We need to develop a complex understanding of many factors.”其中 develop a complex understanding of 对应题干 know，这就意味着答案马上出现了。然后，我们听到教授提出了一个问题“What is the relationship between sound and culture?”其实这个疑问句的语气就是对应题干 how，relationship between A and B 对应题干 A relates to B，因此答案为 culture。
听前预测：定位词 physics；提示词 help、understand、the、sound。此处应填名词。
题目解析：这道题目比较简单，因为定位词、提示词和答案出现在同一句话中“Can we learn anything from physics about the nature of sound itself?”其中 Can we learn anything from physics 对应题干 whether physics can help us understand，learn 和 understand 是同义替换，答案所在信息 the nature of sound 原词重现，所以很容易判断出答案为 nature。
听前预测：定位词 disadvantage；提示词 current。 此处应填形容词。注意本题定位词disadvantage 以及上一行信息中的 advantage，说明这两行信息存在一个对比、转折关系，所以我们在文中应该重点听对比和转折的逻辑连词。
题目解析：我们首先听到了“To show us their ideas and help us to…”，这里讲的都是 advantage，然后我们听到了转折连词 but，它之后所接的就是答案对应信息“but these programs are silent”，其中 these programs 对应前面的 virtual reality，正确答案就是这段话中唯一的一个形容词 silent。