The idea that music makes you smarter has received considerable attention from scholars and the media. Current interest in【B1】______between music and intelligence stems from two independent areas of research. One focuses on short-term effects of【B2】______listening to music. The other is on a seperate【B3】______of research, which examines whether music lessons have【B4】______benefits that extend to non-musical areas of cognition. Such 【B5】______ could be unique to children who take music lessons for long periods of time 【B6】______ their experiences differ substantially from those of other children. Music lessons【B7】______long periods of focused attention, memorization of【B8】______musical passages, learning about a variety of musical structures, and【B9】______mastery of technical skills and the conventions【B10】______the expression of emotions in performance. This【B11】______of experiences could have a positive impact on cognition, particularly during the childhood years, when brain devolopment is highly【B12】______and sensitive to environmental influence. Previous findings are【B13】______with the hypothesis that music lessons promote intellectual development. For example, natural musical gifts is associated with literacy.【B14】______, correlational and experimental studies【B15】______that music lessons have positive relations with verbal memory, reading ability, selective attention, and mathematics achievement.【B16】______, the simplest explanation of these【B17】______relations is that they come from a common component,such as general intelligence. Put simply, children【B18】______high IQs are more likely than other children to take music lessons. To conclude that music lessons have a casual relation with IQ that is【B19】______to music,one must rule【B20】______potentially confusing factors such as socioeconomic status, and education, and demonstrate that non-musical, extracurricular activities do not have comparable effects on IQ.