Everyday Mysteries: Why songs get stuck in our heads

Which two of the following sentences from the article include central ideas of the article?

1.A study shows that earworms are quite common, but the reason for them remains a mystery that researchers are still trying to solve.

2.When people listen to music, there’s a lot of activity in regions of the brain that plan and carry out motion, Margulis says.

3.Once you've heard a song four or five times, the sound of one note reminds you of the next note.

4.But Williamson’s research has found that people who experience certain symptoms of obsessive compulsion tend to have earworms more often, and for longer periods of time.

• 1 and 2

• 1 and 4

• 2 and 3

• 3 and 4

Which statement would be MOST important to include in a summary of the article?

• People are not very reliable at recalling how often they get earworms.

• Earworms might have something to do with the brain's motor cortex.

• Note length and pitch affect whether a song will become an earworm.

• Research has been done on the number of earworms that people find annoying.

Read the paragraph from the section "Second Verse, Same As The First."

Experiencing earworms also seems to involve being in the right mood at the right time. In addition to the qualities of the song and of the person, "situation comes into play as a third factor,” Kellaris says. He added that earworms seem more likely to "bite" when someone is tired or stressed out.

How does this paragraph help contribute to the development of the article?

• It suggests that experiencing earworms is less common than previously thought.

• It suggests that being in a good mood makes people try to remember earworms.

• It indicates that people who are tired or stressed out are unlikely to experience earworms.

• It provides some information about a factor that can result in earworms.

Why does the author include the section "Magical Mystery Earworms"?

• to emphasize that earworms happen quickly and frequently

• to establish how difficult it is for scientists to study earworms

• to make a connection between earworms and listening to music

• to explain how scientists are developing tests for earworms

An earworm in this article is referring to:

• your favorite part of the song

• a little fragment, often a bit of the chorus of a song

• the part in a song with the most arpeggios

• a segment of the song that makes you feel like dancing

What percentage of people have an earworm at least once a week?

• 71%

• 79%

• 81%

• 91%

An earworm tends to last how many seconds?

• 6 seconds

• 7 seconds

• 8 seconds

• 9 seconds

A song's structure might contribute to brain burrowing; aka an earworm

• True

• False

"Fundamentally, an earworm is your brain _________________".

• smiling

• dancing

• playing a game

• singing

Earworms tend to happen more in people who experience symptoms of:

• Obsessive compulsion

• Type A personalities

• Free spiritedness

• sleep deprivation