1-inquisitive 爱打听的，好询问的

That means I also spend my days amid ringing phones, the inquisitive tones of co-workers.

2-wring-过去式～wrung 拧，挤

Even so, the content must be wrung from my distracted brain.

3-trend piece 流行单品

And so, I join the characters of trend pieces everywhere in wearing headphones almost all day, every day.

4-study subject 研究对象

5-rote 死记硬背

But the study subjects in that experiment were doing rote factory work, examining metal parts on conveyor belts.

6-head to head 正面交锋的，短兵相接

When silence and music were put head to head in more cognitively complex tests, people did better in silence.

7-semantic 语义的

You've got semantic information that you are trying to use when you are reading a book, and you've got semantic information from the lyrics.

8-mess up 搞砸

We like it and we can't tell it's messing us up.