A Song On The Brain Reading Answers
The IELTS reading section assesses students based on their ability to read a passage and answer subsequent questions. These are the KPIs that are used to evaluate a candidate's reading abilities in IELTS examination. The details are required to be remembered in IELTS reading from the passage that is presented to them. IELTS academic reading is a crucial section and students are required to look after their preparation accordingly. Song on the brain IELTS reading answers is a topic which can be utilized by students to prepare themselves for IELTS reading assessment. Candidates face similar topics in IELTS reading practice papers.The topic includes questions as mentioned below:
- Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ)
- Match the Speaker
- Match the paragraph number with statements
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Section 1
Read the Passage to Answer the Following Questions
A Song On The Brain Reading Answers
Some songs just won't leave you alone. But this may give us clues about how our brain works
- Everyone knows the situation where you can't get a song out of your head. You hear a pop song on the radio - or even just read the song's title and it haunts you for hours, playing over and over in your mind until you're heartily sick of it. The condition now even has a medical name 'song-in-head syndrome'.
- But why does the mind annoy us like this? No one knows for sure, but it's probably because the brain is better at holding onto information than it is at knowing what information is important. Roger Chaffin, a psychologist at the University of Connecticut says, 'It's a manifestation of an aspect of memory which is normally an asset to us, but in this instance it can be a nuisance.'
- This eager acquisitiveness of the brain may have helped our ancestors remember important information in the past. Today, students use it to learn new material, and musicians rely on it to memorize complicated pieces. But when this useful function goes awry it can get you stuck on a tune. Unfortunately, superficial, repetitive pop tunes are, by their very nature, more likely to stick than something more inventive.
- The annoying playback probably originates in the auditory cortex. Located at the front of the brain, this region handles both listening and playback of music and other sounds. Neuroscientist Robert Zatorre of McGill University in Montreal proved this some years ago when he asked volunteers to replay the theme from the TV show Dallas in their heads. Brain imaging studies showed that this activated the same region of the auditory cortex as when the people actually heard the song.
- Not every stored musical memory emerges into consciousness, however. The frontal lobe of the brain gets to decide which thoughts become conscious and which ones are simply stored away. But it can become fatigued or depressed, which is when people most commonly suffer from song-in-head syndrome and other intrusive thoughts, says Susan Ball, a clinical psychologist at Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis. And once the unwanted song surfaces, it's hard to stuff it back down into the subconscious. 'The more you try to suppress a thought, the more you get it,' says Ball. 'We call this the pink elephant phenomenon. Tell the brain not to think about pink elephants, and it's guaranteed to do so,' she says.
- For those not severely afflicted, simply avoiding certain kinds of music can help. 'I know certain pieces that are kind of "sticky" to me, so I will not play them in the early morning for fear that they will run around in my head all day,' says Steven Brown, who trained as a classical pianist but is now a neuroscientist at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. He says he always has a song in his head and, even more annoying, his mind never seems to make it all the way through. 'It tends to involve short fragments between, say, 5 or 15 seconds. They seem to get looped, for hours sometimes,' he says.
- Brown's experience of repeated musical loops may represent a phenomenon called 'chunking', in which people remember musical phrases as a single unit of memory, says Caroline Palmer, a psychologist at Ohio State University in Columbus. Most listeners have little choice about what chunks they remember. Particular chunks may be especially 'sticky' if you hear them often or if they follow certain predictable patterns, such as the chord progression of rock 'n' roll music. Palmer's research shows that the more a piece of music conforms to these patterns, the easier it is to remember. That's why you're more likely to be haunted by the tunes of pop music than by those of a classical composer such as J. S. Bach.
- But this ability can be used for good as well as annoyance. Teachers can tap into memory reinforcement by setting their lessons to music. For example, in one experiment students who heard a history text set as the lyrics to a catchy song remembered the words better than those who simply read them, says Sandra Calvert, a psychologist at Georgetown University in Washington DC.
- This sort of memory enhancement may even explain the origin of music. Before the written word could be used to record history, people memorized it in songs, says Leon James, a psychologist at the University of Hawaii. And music may have had an even more important role. ‘All music has a message.' he says. ‘This message functions to unite society and to standardize the thought processes of people in society.’
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Section 2
Solution and Explanation
Questions 1 to 3:
Choose the correct answer, A, B, C or D.
Write your answers in boxes 1-3 on your answer sheet.
Q1. The writer says that song-in-head syndrome’ may occur because the brain
- confuses two different types of memory.
- cannot decide what information it needs to retain.
- has been damaged by harmful input.
- cannot hold onto all the information it processes.
Answer: B- cannot decide what information it needs to retain.
Supporting Sentence: it's probably because the brain is better at holding onto information than it is at knowing what information is important.
Keywords: song-in head syndrome, inability, brain, information, retained
Keyword Location: Paragraph B, lines 2-3.
Explanation: As per the passage, usually the song-in head syndrome occurs due to the inability of the brain to decide which information should be retained.
Q2. A tune is more likely to stay in your head if
- it is simple and unoriginal.
- you have musical training.
- it is part of your culture.
- you have a good memory.
Answer: A- it is simple and unoriginal.
Supporting Sentence: Unfortunately, superficial, repetitive pop tunes are, by their very nature, more likely to stick than something more inventive.
Keywords: unoriginal, simple tune, superficial, repetitive pop tunes, stick, more inventive
Keyword Location: Paragraph C, lines 2
Explanation: The unoriginal and simple tune will stay in your brain for a longer time as compared to complex and original tunes. Even, if the singer has done certain inventions in the tone of music, then it might not stay for longer in your mind.
Q3. Robert Zatorre found that a part of the auditory cortex was activated when volunteers
- listened to certain types of music.
- learned to play a tune on an instrument.
- replayed a piece of music after several years.
- remembered a tune they had heard previously.
Answer: D- remembered a tune they had heard previously.
Supporting Sentence: he asked volunteers to replay the theme from the TV show Dallas in their heads.
Keywords: volunteers, replay the theme, TV show Dallas, in their heads
Keyword Location: paragraph D, lines 4-6
Explanation: Once the volunteer remembers the tune they had heard earlier, only then does the part of the auditory cortex get activated. The information in the passage and question matches with option D.
Questions 4-7:
Look at the following theories (Questions 4-7) and the list of people below. Match each theory with the person it is credited to.
Write the correct letter A-F in boxes 4-7 on your answer sheet.
List of people:
- Roger Chaffin
- Susan Ball
- Steven Brown
- Caroline Palmer
- Sandra Calvert
- Leon James
Q4. The memorable nature of some tunes can help other learning processes.
Answer: E- Sandra Calvert
Supporting Sentence: in one experiment students who heard a history text set as the lyrics to a catchy song remembered the words better than those who simply read them, says Sandra Calvert.
Keywords: heard, history text, as the lyrics, catchy song, remembered, better, simply read them, Sandra Calvert.
Keyword Location: Paragraph H, lines 3-5
Explanation: The above passage reveals that Sandra Calvert believes that the learning process can be benefitted from certainly memorable tunes.
Q5. Music may not always be stored in the memory in the form of separate notes.
Answer: D- Caroline Palmer
Supporting Sentence: a phenomenon called 'chunking', in which people remember musical phrases as a single unit of memory, says Caroline Palmer.
Keywords: chunking, people remember, musical phrase, single unit, Caroline Palmer
Keyword Location: paragraph G, first 3 lines
Explanation: After reading the statement, we can easily make out that Caroline Palmer is the speaker. She said that it is not a compulsion that music is always stored in a different form of notes only.
Q6. People may have started to make music because of their need to remember things.
Answer: F- Leon James
Supporting Sentence: Before the written word could be used to record history, people memorized it in songs, says Leon James.
Keywords: the written word, record history, memorized, in songs, Leon James
Keyword Location: Paragraph I, lines 1-3
Explanation: The songs or music can turn out to be effective measures to remember things for a longer time as said by Leon James. Now, most people have started to make songs in order to remember things for a longer time.
Q7. Having a song going round your head may happen to you more often when one part of the brain is tired.
Answer: B- Susan Ball
Supporting Sentence: But it can become fatigued or depressing, which is when people most commonly suffer from song-in-head syndrome and other intrusive thoughts, says Susan Ball.
Keywords: fatigued or depressed, commonly suffer, song-in head syndrome, intrusive thoughts, Susan Ball
Keyword Location: Paragraph E. lines 1-5.
Explanation: Susan Ball makes a claim that song-in-head syndrome makes people think of a song and it revolves in their brain almost all the time. Along with song-in head syndrome, people get intrusive thoughts. So, the answer, in this case, would be Susan Ball.
Questions 8-13:
The Reading Passage has nine paragraphs labeled A-I.
Which paragraph contains the following information?
Write the correct letter A-l in boxes 8-13 on your answer sheet.
NB. You may use any letter more than once.
Q8. a claim that music strengthens social bonds.
Answer: I
Supporting Sentence: This message functions to unite society and to standardize the thought processes of people in society.’
Keywords: unite society, standardize, thought, processes of people, in society
Keyword Location: Paragraph I, last 2 lines
Explanation: The answer to the question is very clear when we read paragraph I. The readers can figure out that music tends to strengthen social bonds. So, at times songs are used to standardize the thinking of the entire society.
Q9. two reasons why some bits of music tend to stick in your mind more than others
Answer: G
Supporting Sentence: Particular chunks may be especially 'sticky' if you hear them often or if they follow certain predictable patterns.
Keywords: chunks, sticky, hear them often, follow predictable patterns
Keyword Location: Paragraph G
Explanation: Sometimes, it usually happens that certain music or lyrics tend to get stuck in your mind. The readers get this information after reading paragraph I of the above passage.
Q10. an example of how the brain may respond in opposition to your wishes
Answer: E
Supporting Sentence: And once the unwanted song surfaces, it's hard to stuff it back down into the subconscious. 'The more you try to suppress a thought, the more you get it,' says Ball.
Keywords: unwanted song surfaces, hard to stuff, into the subconscious, suppress a thought, more you get it, says Ball
Keyword Location: Paragraph E, last 4 lines
Explanation: The information is given in paragraph E, shows that when you try to suppress the thought you get more thoughts about it. The brain most of the time, responds opposite to what your wishes are.
Q11. the name of the part of the brain where song-in-head syndrome begins
Answer: D
Supporting Sentence: The annoying playback probably originates in the auditory cortex. Located at the front of the brain, this region handles both listening and playback of music and other sounds.
Keywords: annoying, playback, originates, auditory cortex, front of the brain
Keyword Location: Paragraph D, first 2 lines
Explanation: The auditory cortex is placed in the front of the brain because of which the irritating playback of the songs takes place. The song keeps on repeating itself in the brain which is caused due to song-in head syndrome.
Q12. examples of two everyday events that can set off song-m-head syndrome
Answer: A
Supporting Sentence: You hear a pop song on the radio - or even just read the song's title and it haunts you for hours, playing over and over in your mind until you're heartily sick of it.
Keywords: pop song, radio, read, song's title, examples, everyday events, song-in head syndrome, haunts you for hours, playing, over and over
Keyword Location: Paragraph A, first 3 lines.
Explanation: The reader can find the example of everyday events that can help people to get rid of the song-in head syndrome are given in paragraph A of the passage. Examples are listening to pop songs either on the radio or even reading the title of the song.
Q13. a description of what one person does to prevent the song-in-head syndrome
Answer: F
Supporting Sentence: For those not severely afflicted, simply avoiding certain kinds of music can help. 'I know certain pieces that are kind of "sticky" to me, so I will not play them in the early morning for fear that they will run around in my head all day,' says Steven Brown.
Keywords: simply avoiding, not play, in the early morning, prevent, song-in head syndrome
Keyword Location: Paragraph F, first 4 lines
Explanation: To avoid song-in syndrome, one should try to avoid playing that song in the early morning. Further, Steve Brown mentioned that if you are not much affected by this syndrome, only then prevention of playing songs in the early morning will be beneficial.
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