Self-study
As regards memory, the brain responds best to repeated patterns, such as the melodic and rhythmic patterns of music. ████ ██ ███ ██ ███ ████████ ████ ███████ ██ ███████████ ██ █████ █████ █████ ████████ ██ ██████████ ██ █████████ ████ ████ ███ ███ ██ ██████ █████ ████ █████ ████ ███████ ██ █████ ████ ████ █████ █████ █████ ██ ████ ██ █████████ ██████ ████ ██████ ████ ████████ ██████ ██ █████████ ████████ ██ ███ ████████ █████ ███ ███████ ████ █████████ ██ █████████ █████ ████████
Summarize Argument
The author claims funny jokes are difficult to remember, even though music and funny jokes both elicit emotional responses and music aids memory because of its repeated patterns.
Notable Assumptions
The author assumes there’s some difference between music and funny jokes that allows people to remember music more easily. This means assuming funny jokes either lack the repeated patterns of music or that they have some other characteristic, which music doesn’t have, that makes them difficult to remember regardless.
9.
Which one of the following ████ █████████ █████████ ███ ████████
a
jokes, unlike music, ██████ ████ ███████ ████ ██ ██████ ██ ██ █████ ███████ ████████
This is a difference between jokes and music, but it doesn’t explain why jokes are difficult to remember. The author says repeated patterns make something easy to remember, not that verbal or symbolic content makes something difficult to remember.
b
some successful jokes ███ █████ ███ ██████ ███████ ██████ ███ ████ ███ ████████
This doesn’t say funny jokes have no repeated patterns. There’s no indication a long, involved joke can’t also have repeated patterns that make it easy to remember.
c
jokes work not ██ ██████████ ██ ████████ ████████ ███ ██ ████████ ████
This is a difference between jokes and music that explains why jokes are more difficult to remember. It implies funny jokes lack the adherence to repeated patterns that makes music an aid to memory.
d
for most people, ███████ ████████ ██████ █ ██████ █████████ ████████
This suggests remembering a funny joke can produce an emotional response, but it draws no contrast between jokes and music that explains why funny jokes are usually harder to remember.
e
people can hold ██ ██████████ ██████ ████ █ ███ ██████ ██ ███████████ ███████████ ██ █ ████
This helps explain why repeated patterns make something easy to remember, but it draws no contrast between music and funny jokes. In particular, it doesn’t say jokes are unpatterned information.