A broken heart. A sad ending to a love affair. That’s something most of us have experienced, or probably will. After all, it’s part of human life. But no question, the experience can be hard to get over.
But research shows there are pathways through the heartache. Listening to sad music is a major one. It can help you begin to feel joy and hopefulness about your life again. It can arouse (激发，唤醒) the desire (渴望) to connect with others.
Sad music can help heal and uplift you from your broken heart. A recent study from Germany found the emotional influence of listening to sad music is an arousal of feelings of empathy (共情), and a desire for positive connection with others. That, itself, is psychologically healing. It draws you away from concentration on yourself, and possibly towards helping others in need of comfort.
Another experiment, from the University of Kent, found that when people were experiencing sadness, listening to music that was “beautiful but sad” improved their mood. In fact, it did so when the person first consciously accept the situation causing their sadness, and then began listening to the sad music. That is, when they intended that the sad music might help, they found that it did.
These findings link with other studies that show accepting your sad situation emotionally leads to healing and growth beyond it. It seems unbelievable but it does make sense. For example, research from Cornell University, published in Psychological Science, found that accepting discomfort about a life experience or new situation, and viewing it as a step towards growth and change, encourages people to find a pathway through it, beyond it. As Churchill famously said, “If you’re going through hell, keep going.” That discomfort points you towards creating a plan, a new action. It fuels hope.
【小题1】What can we learn from paragraph 3 and paragraph 4?| A．Sad music can make people help others. |
| B．Sad music can make sad people feel better. |
| C．Sad music can make people believe in themselves. |
| D．Sad music can make people concentrate on themselves. |
| A．Listen to a sad song. | B．Avoid unwise actions. |
| C．Find support from others. | D．Face the discomfort directly. |
| A．By listing figures. |
| B．By giving directions. |
| C．By comparing examples. |
| D．By presenting research findings. |
| A．How to Find Pathways through Heartaches |
| B．How We React to A Broken Heart Matters a Lot |
| C．What We Can Do to Overcome Discomfort in Life |
| D．Why Listening to Sad Music Heals Your Broken Heart |
