What’s So Funny? — IELTS Reading Answers

Arthur Koestler considered laughter biologically important in several ways.

“The writer Arthur Koestler dubbed it the luxury reflex: 'unique in that it serves no apparent biological purpose'”

Koestler called laughter 'unique in that it serves no apparent biological purpose', directly contradicting the claim that he thought it biologically important.

Plato believed humour to be a sign of above-average intelligence.

“Plato expressed the idea that humour is simply a delighted feeling of superiority over others”

Plato linked humour to 'a delighted feeling of superiority', but the passage never says he thought it signalled above-average intelligence.

Kant believed that a successful joke involves the controlled release of nervous energy.

“Kant and Freud felt that joke-telling relies on building up a psychic tension which is safely punctured by the ludicrousness of the punchline”

Kant and Freud held that joke-telling builds 'a psychic tension which is safely punctured' by the punchline — controlled release of nervous energy.

Current thinking on humour has largely ignored Aristotle's view on the subject.

“But most modern humour theorists have settled on some version of Aristotle's belief that jokes are based on a reaction to or resolution of incongruity, when the punchline is either a nonsense or, though appearing silly, has a clever second meaning”

Most modern theorists 'have settled on some version of Aristotle's belief' about incongruity, so his view is not ignored.

Graeme Ritchie's work links jokes to artificial intelligence.

“Graeme Ritchie, a computational linguist in Edinburgh, studies the linguistic structure of jokes in order to understand not only humour but language understanding and reasoning in machines”

Ritchie, a computational linguist, studies joke structure to understand 'language understanding and reasoning in machines' — artificial intelligence.

Most comedians use personal situations as a source of humour.

“A comedian will present a situation followed by an unexpected interpretation that is also apt”

Comedians present situations with unexpected interpretations, but the passage never says most use personal situations as material.

Chimpanzees make particular noises when they are playing.

“Chimpanzees have a 'play-face' — a gaping expression accompanied by a panting 'ah, ah' noise”

Chimpanzees have 'a play-face ... accompanied by a panting ah, ah noise', so they make particular noises when playing.

“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”

The label needs the right prefrontal cortex's function: scans showed it lit up at the joke's start and it is 'critical for problem solving'.

“But there was also activity in the temporal lobes at the side of the head (consistent with attempts to rouse stored knowledge) and in many other brain areas”

The label needs the brain area active at the side of the head, 'consistent with attempts to rouse stored knowledge' — the temporal lobes.

“Then when the punchline arrived, a new area sprang to life — the orbital prefrontal cortex. This patch of brain tucked behind the orbits of the eyes is associated with evaluating information”

The label needs the orbital prefrontal cortex's role: this patch 'is associated with evaluating information' when the punchline arrives.

One of the brain's most difficult tasks is to

“Making a rapid emotional assessment of the events of the moment is an extremely demanding job for the brain, animal or human”

The brain's hardest task is 'making a rapid emotional assessment of the events of the moment', matching option C.

Because of the language they have developed, humans

“but humans, who have developed a much more complicated internal life as a result of language, respond emotionally not only to their surroundings, but to their own thoughts”

Because language gives humans a complicated internal life, they 'respond emotionally not only to their surroundings, but to their own thoughts' — option A.

Individual responses to humour

“Whether a joke gives pleasure or pain depends on a person's outlook”

Whether a joke gives pleasure or pain 'depends on a person's outlook', so responses relate to subjective views — option F.

Peter Derks believes that humour

“If we can figure out how the mind processes humour, then we'll have a pretty good handle on how it works in general.'”

Derks says understanding how the mind processes humour gives 'a pretty good handle on how it works in general', so humour informs brain study — option D.