What’s so Funny? – IELTS Reading Answers
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The Academic passage ‘What’s so Funny?’ is a reading passage that appeared in an IELTS Test.
It contains some of the IELTS reading question types. If you are interested in familiarising yourself with all the question types, don’t hesitate to take an IELTS reading practice test.
The question types found in this passage are:
True/False/Not Given Questions
True/False/Not Given questions are very tricky. This question consists of several statements – If the statement is present in the article as it is then you need to mark it as true. If the statement is found to be the opposite of the sentence which is there then it should be marked as false. If the statement given in the question is not at all present in the article then it should be marked as not given. Do not spend a lot of time finding the sentence which is not there.
Diagram Completion
In this Diagram completion questions, you’re given a descriptive text and a diagram or plan, which you have to label according to the text. Your diagram may be a technical drawing, a description of something from the natural world, a process or a plan of something.
Matching Sentence endings
In the Matching Sentence ending question, you will be given a list of unfinished sentences with no endings and a list of alternative endings for this question. Your task is to identify the correct endings to the incomplete sentences based on the reading text.
Read the passage below and answer questions 14-27. Beyond the questions, you will find the answers along with the location of the answers in the passage and the keywords that prove the answers.
What’s so Funny?
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14 Answer: FALSE
Question Type: True/False and Not Given Questions
Answer location: Paragraph 1, line 6
Answer explanation: Paragraph 1 informs us that the writer ‘Arthur Koestler’ dubbed it (laughter) as the ‘luxury reflex’: ‘unique in that it serves ‘no apparent biological purpose‘’. As the statement contradicts the information, the answer is false.
15 Answer: NOT GIVEN
Question Type: True/False and Not Given Questions
Answer location: Paragraph 2, line 2
Answer explanation: Paragraph 2 expresses ‘Plato’s idea’ that humour is ‘simply a delighted feeling of superiority’ over others. There is no reference to above-average intelligence. Hence, the answer is not given
Question Type: True/False and Not Given Questions
Answer location: Paragraph 2, line 3
Answer explanation: Paragraph 2 mentions that ‘Kant’ and Freud felt that ‘joke-telling’ relies on building up a ‘psychic tension’ (nervous energy) which is ‘safely punctured’ (controlled release) by the ‘ludicrousness of the punchline’ (successful). As the statement agrees with the information, the answer is true.
17 Answer: FALSE
Question Type: True/False and Not Given Questions
Answer location: Paragraph 2, line 4
Answer explanation: Paragraph 2 informs us how ‘most modern humour theorists’ (current thinking on humour) have ‘settled on’ some version of ‘Aristotle’s belief’ (view) that ‘jokes are based on a reaction to or resolution of incongruity when the punchline is either nonsense or, though appearing silly’. As the statement contradicts the information, the answer is false.
18 Answer: TRUE
Question Type: True/False and Not Given Questions
Answer location: Paragraph 3, line 1
Answer explanation: Paragraph 3 cites ‘Graeme Ritchie’, a computational linguist in Edinburgh, and mentions that he studied the ‘linguistic structure of jokes’ in order to understand not only ‘humour’( jokes) but ‘language understanding’ and ‘reasoning in machines’ (artificial intelligence). As the statement agrees with the information, the answer is true.
19 Answer: NOT GIVEN
Question Type: True/False and Not Given Questions
Answer location: Paragraph 3, line 3
Answer explanation: In paragraph 3, it is given that ‘a comedian’ will ‘present a situation’ followed by ‘an unexpected interpretation that is also apt’. As there is no reference to personal situations as a source of humour, the answer is not given.
20 Answer: TRUE
Question Type: True/False and Not Given Questions
Answer location: Paragraph 5, line 4
Answer explanation: Paragraph 5 makes a reference to ‘chimpanzees’ having a ‘play-face’ (playing) – a gaping expression accompanied by a ‘panting ‘ah, ah’ noise’ (particular noises). As the statement agrees with the information, the answer is true.
21 Answer: Problem solving
Question Type: Diagram Completion
Answer location: Paragraph 8, line 2
Answer explanation: In Paragraph 8 Goel used a brain scanner and his scans showed that ‘at the beginning of a joke’ the listener’s ‘prefrontal cortex lit up’, particularly ‘the right prefrontal’ believed to be ‘critical for problem-solving’. Hence, the answer is ‘problem solving’.
22 Answer: temporal lobes
Question Type: Diagram Completion
Answer location: Paragraph 8, line 3
Answer explanation: Paragraph 8 points out that there was also ‘activity in the temporal lobes’ at the side of the head and in many other brain areas when there were consistent attempts to reuse stored knowledge. Hence, the answer is ‘temporal lobes’.
23 Answer: evaluating information
Question Type: Diagram Completion
Answer location: Paragraph 8, line 5
Answer explanation: Paragraph 8 states that when the punchline arrived, a ‘new area sprang to life’ -the ‘orbital prefrontal cortex’. ‘This patch of brain’ (orbital prefrontal cortex) is ‘associated with evaluating information’. Hence, the answer is ‘evaluating information’.
24 Answer: C
Question Type: Matching Sentence ending
Answer location: Paragraph 9, line 1
Answer explanation: Paragraph 9 mentions that making a ‘rapid emotional assessment of the events of the moment’ (respond instantly to whatever is happening) is an ‘extremely demanding job’ (one of the most difficult tasks) for ‘the brain’, animal or human. Hence, the answer is C (respond instantly to whatever is happening).
25 Answer: A
Question Type: Matching Sentence ending
Answer location: Paragraph 10, line 2
Answer explanation: In paragraph 10, the writer says that as ‘humans’ have ‘developed’ ‘language’, they ‘respond’ (react) emotionally not only to their surroundings but ‘to their own thoughts’. Hence, the answer is A (react to their own thoughts).
26 Answer: F
Question Type: Matching Sentence ending
Answer location: Paragraph 10, last line
Answer explanation: Paragraph 10 states that whether ‘a joke’ gives ‘pleasure or pain’ (individual responses) depends on a person’s outlook (subjective views). Hence, the answer is F (relate to a person’s subjective views).
27 Answer: D
Question Type: Matching Sentence ending
Answer location: Paragraph 11, line 2
Answer explanation: In the last paragraph, the writer mentions the belief of ‘Peter Derks’, a psychologist at William and Mary College in Virginia, that ‘humour’ can help to ‘figure out’ (provide) how the ‘mind’ (brain) processes humour. It will help to have a ‘pretty good handle’ (valuable information) on how ‘it’ (brain) ‘works in general’. Hence, the answer is D (may provide valuable information about the operation of the brain).
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