Question

modern life is full of distractions - and some of them can have a negative effect on our ability to concentrate when studying. the problem is that many people tend to underestimate how much they are distracted by whats going on around them. heres how you can get the most from your studies by considering your environment. reading is often accompanied by a cacophony of background speech, such as from the television or the conversations of friends or colleagues. when trying to concentrate on a task, people often report that the presence of nearby speech is annoying. however, they are usually not very good at accurately estimating how distracted they will be by such sounds. when measured in the lab, peoples ability to carry out study - related tasks is usually made worse by irrelevant speech in the background. for example, a recent study recorded participants eye movements as they read texts and listened to irrelevant background speech. the results showed reading needed more effort because participants more often had to go back to previously read words and re - examine them. this distraction occurred because readers were inadvertently trying to listen to the irrelevant speech and process its meaning, even though it had nothing to do with what they were reading. listening to music is another common distraction that many students choose. a recent survey found that 62% of university students were listening to music while studying or doing homework. but, again, recent eye - tracking evidence suggests that listening to music also reduces reading efficiency in a similar way to irrelevant speech. assessment questions which two statements best identify the central ideas of the article? a. auditory and visual distractions reduce a persons ability to concentrate on a task. b. students should avoid study groups because social interaction distracts from studying. c. auditory distractions are more likely to diminish a persons focus than visual distractions. d. students should limit external distractions in order to benefit the most from their studying. e. technology can improve the quality of a persons study session if it is utilized appropriately. f. technological distractions are more likely to interfere with focus than in - person distractions.

Explanation:

The article discusses how distractions, especially auditory ones like listening to music or irrelevant speech while studying, can negatively impact concentration and reading efficiency. It presents research - based evidence about how people are often distracted by such sounds and have to re - read words. Statements A and C are consistent with the central ideas of the article. Statement A emphasizes the negative impact of auditory and visual distractions on concentration, which is a key point in the article. Statement C highlights that auditory distractions are more likely to diminish a person's focus compared to visual distractions, which is also supported by the text's emphasis on the problems caused by listening to music or speech while reading.

Answer:

A. Auditory and visual distractions reduce a person's ability to concentrate on a task.
C. Auditory distractions are more likely to diminish a person's focus than visual distractions.