Carleen Hutchins finished building her first stringed instrument (弦乐器) in 1949, when she was 38. She is remembered as an excellent luthier. A luthier is a person who makes stringed instruments, such as violins and guitars.

Hutchins was a primary school science teacher. She took up the viola (中提琴) at 36. But she wasn’t satisfied with the viola she bought. Since she was a skilled woodworker, she decided to build one herself.

For more than 50 years, she carved (雕刻) stringed instruments. Hutchins worked from her home — often in her kitchen. She used a scientific method to carve them. Over the years, she made around 500 instruments. Her method is still used. It helps luthiers carve high-quality stringed instruments.

Hutchins also created a family of eight violins known as the violin octet. They change in size and tone (音调). “It’s how the instrument is carved that makes it a violin,” Joe McNalley says. He is the founder of the Hutchins Consort, a group that plays the octet.

The four instruments in the string family are violin, viola, cello, and bass. They cannot play the lowest or highest notes of the piano. They play the notes in between. Hutchins created a family of eight violins that play all the notes a piano plays.

D. Quincy Whitney has written a book about Hutchins. “For centuries, musicians had talked about creating a family of violins that had a total string sound as wide as a piano,” she said.

Hutchins was an artist and a scientist. A big part of her dream was to create top-quality instruments that were affordable. “Her story is about how one person can not only make a difference,” says Whitney, “but can change a whole world.”

What would the world be like without music?【小题1】 The truth is that we all love music for many different reasons. Listening to music provides all of us with so many different benefits. Here are four reasons why you should listen to music daily in your life.

Music helps reduce stress. Music is great for dancing, having fun and making your day go faster. But do you know that listening to music actually helps to relieve stress? According to several researches and studies music helps calm individuals down and reduce people’s physiological (生理的) stress. 【小题2】

Music helps you sleep. Do you have trouble sleeping at night?【小题3】 According to a study, those with poor sleeping habits benefit greatly by listening to music. And classical music especially is an effective treatment for sleeping problems.

Music helps improve social skills.【小题4】Then you should start playing some music at once. Music actually helps people improve on their social skills. By listening to music, you will likely end up in the places where others with similar musical tastes will be. It could be in a club party or even on a social media site.

【小题5】 It may be hard to believe, but certain types of music can actually help you stay dedicated. In a study, researchers found that both classical and baroque music have the effect on people. The study found that the melody and rhythm of these types of music can calm you down.