Music And The Emotions — IELTS Reading Answers

“music triggers the production of dopamine – a chemical with a key role in setting people’s moods – by the neurons (nerve cells) in both the dorsal and ventral regions of the brain”

The gap names the chemical music triggers; the passage says music triggers the production of dopamine, a chemical with a key role in setting moods.

“these two regions have long been linked with the experience of pleasure”

The gap names what the two brain regions are associated with; the passage says they have long been linked with the experience of pleasure.

“the dopamine neurons in the caudate – a region of the brain involved in learning stimulus-response associations, and in anticipating food and other ‘reward’ stimuli – were at their most active”

The gap names the brain region where dopamine neurons peaked; the passage identifies the caudate, involved in anticipating reward stimuli.

“The researchers call this the ‘anticipatory phase’ and argue that the purpose of this activity is to help us predict the arrival of our favourite part”

The gap names the period before the favourite moment; the researchers call this the anticipatory phase.

“in anticipating food and other ‘reward’ stimuli”

The gap is the example reward the brain anticipates; the passage mentions anticipating food and other reward stimuli.

What point does the writer emphasise in the first paragraph?

1. Ahow dramatically our reactions to music can vary
2. Bhow intense our physical responses to music can becorrect
3. Chow little we know about the way that music affects us
4. Dhow much music can tell us about how our brains operate

“sound stirs us at our biological roots”

The first paragraph stresses that sound stirs us at our biological roots, so our physical responses to music are intense, option B.

What view of the Montreal study does the writer express in the second paragraph?

1. AIts aims were innovative.
2. BThe approach was too simplistic.
3. CIt produced some remarkably precise data.correct
4. DThe technology used was unnecessarily complex.

“they were able to obtain an impressively exact and detailed portrait of music in the brain”

Calling the data an impressively exact and detailed portrait of music in the brain is praise for remarkably precise results, option C.

What does the writer find interesting about the results of the Montreal study?

1. Athe timing of participants’ neural responses to the musiccorrect
2. Bthe impact of the music on participants’ emotional state
3. Cthe section of participants’ brains which was activated by the music
4. Dthe type of music which had the strongest effect on participants’ brains

“around 15 seconds before the participants’ favourite moments in the music”

What intrigues the writer is timing: the activity began around fifteen seconds before the participants' favourite moments, option A.

Why does the writer refer to Meyer’s work on music and emotion?

1. Ato propose an original theory about the subject
2. Bto offer support for the findings of the Montreal studycorrect
3. Cto recommend the need for further research into the subject
4. Dto present a view which opposes that of the Montreal researchers

“To demonstrate this psychological principle, the musicologist Leonard Meyer, in his classic book Emotion and Meaning in Music (1956), analysed the 5th movement of Beethoven’s String Quartet in C-sharp minor, Op. 131”

Meyer's Beethoven analysis is used to demonstrate this psychological principle, so it supports the Montreal findings, option B.

According to Leonard Meyer, what causes the listener’s emotional response to music?

1. Athe way that the music evokes poignant memories in the listener
2. Bthe association of certain musical chords with certain feelings
3. Cthe listener’s sympathy with the composer’s intentions
4. Dthe internal structure of the musical compositioncorrect

“Meyer argued that the emotions we find in music come from the unfolding events of the music itself”

Meyer locates emotion in the unfolding events of the music itself, meaning the composition's internal structure, option D.

The Montreal researchers discovered that

“Why are they so active in the period preceding the acoustic climax”

The researchers found dopamine activity peaks in the period preceding the acoustic climax, the ending about anticipation before the high point, F.

Many studies have demonstrated that

“Numerous studies, after all, have demonstrated that dopamine neurons quickly adapt to predictable rewards. If we know what’s going to happen next, then we don’t get excited.”

Studies show dopamine neurons quickly adapt to predictable rewards, so known outcomes stop exciting us, ending B.

Meyer’s analysis of Beethoven’s music shows that

“Meyer dissected 50 measures (bars) of the masterpiece, showing how Beethoven begins with the clear statement of a rhythmic and harmonic pattern and then, in an ingenious tonal dance, carefully holds off repeating it. What Beethoven does instead is suggest variations of the pattern.”

Beethoven holds off repeating the pattern and preserves an element of uncertainty, making listeners beg for the withheld chord, ending E.

Earlier theories of music suggested that

“While earlier theories of music focused on the way a sound can refer to the real world of images and experiences”

Earlier theories of music focused on the way a sound can refer to the real world of images and experiences, which is ending C.