答案与解析： 1． 分析文章标题：Silence(安静， 使安静) Please 借助文章开头或文章中用词特点进一步了解文章主题。 If there is one group of Workers across the Western world who will be glad that Christmas is over that group is shop workers． It is not that they like to complain．They realize that they are going to be rushed off their feet at Christmas．They know that their employers need happy customers to make their profits that pay their wages．But there is one thing about working in a Shop over Christmas that is too bad to tolerate． （第3段）That thing is music．These days，au Shops and many offices have what is known as “Piped music(通过线路输送的音乐) ” or “muzak” playing（播放， 玩，进行比赛） for all the hours（时间） that they are open．Muzak has an odd history． During the 1940s，music was played to cows as part of a scientific experiment．It was found that COWS which listened to simple，happy music produced more milk．Perhaps workers and customers who listened to simple， happy music would be more productive and spend more money. In fact，nobody knows what effect playing muzak in shops has on profits．It is simply something that everybody does．But we are learning more about the effect of constantly repeated hearings of songs on the people who have to hear them all the time． Research shows that repeated hearings of complex pieces of music bring greater enjoyment before becoming tiresome．And that point come mach sooner with simple songs2. “That’s especially the case with tunes that arc already familiar one that tipping point3 is reached，repeated listening become unpleasant，says professor John Sloboda of UK’s Keele University’s music psychology group．“And the less control you have over what you hear, the less you like it” That′s why police forces in the US often try and resolve hostage situations by playing pop songs over and over again at high volume．Eventually, it becomes too mach for the criminals to stand and they give up． The problem gets particularly bad at Christmas，when the muzak consists entirely of the same few festive tunes played over and over again. What makes it worse for the shop workers is that they already know these tunes．They get bored very quickly．Then they get irritated．Then they get angry．