Get rid of the song stuck in your head with chewing gum

         

  

 The next time you have a song stuck in your head, reach for the chewing gum. The very act of grinding it around your mouth might be enough to kick that annoying earworm out of your brain, scientists have claimed.

            Songs are less likely to re-appear in your head if you're chewing, according to a study at the University of Reading. People chewing gum are less likely to think about "sticky" songs, and less likely to hear them after they've stopped, the researchers found. The findings could even show that chewing gum could also be used to keep annoying or recurrent thoughts from popping into people's heads.

            At least 90 per cent of people experience earworms, which comes from the German word "ohrwurm", and 15 per cent of people would call them disturbing, according to research.

            "The majority of us experience them for only short periods - perhaps just a few minutes - but others can experience them for two or three days which can be extremely frustrating and debilitating," said Phil Beaman, from the university's school of psychology and clinical language sciences, who led the study. "We wanted to explore whether a simple act like chewing gum could help."

            Participants in the study were played Play Hard by David Guetta and Payphone by Maroon 5. They were then told not to think about the songs, and hit a key whenever they did. The people who were doing so chewing gum hit the key a lot less than those that were told to do nothing or tap their finger, the research found.

            "Interfering with our own 'inner speech' through a more sophisticated version of the gum-chewing approach may work more widely.," Beaman said. The study is the first to examine the effects of chewing gum on earworms, and it suggests it could also be used to stop other unwanted or intrusive thoughts. "However more research is needed to see whether this will help counter symptoms of obsessive-compulsive and similar disorders," Beaman said. In a previous study by University of Reading in 2009, it was found that almost any song can become an earworm.

Question 1 (2 points) Indicate whether the following statements are true or false and write down which part of the text justifies your answer.

a. People will definitely stop hearing the earworm after chewing gum.

b. Everyone who has been affected by earworms has said that they are a negative thing.

c. People who didn’t chew gum in the study were not allowed to move after they had heard the two songs.

d. This is the first time that the effect of chewing gum on earworms has been researched.

Question 2 (2 points) Answer the following questions in your own words.

a. How long do people experience earworms?

b. How did the University of Reading test the effect of chewing gum on earworms?

Question 3 (1.5 points) Find words or phrases in the text that correspond in meaning to the words and definitions given.

a.   remove (par.1)                              b. investigators (par. 2)                      c.   annoying  (par.4)

d.   every time (par.5)                         e.  fight against (par.6)

Question 4 (1.5 points) Complete the following sentences without changing the meaning.

a.   Chewing gum can help you get rid of earworms.

       If …………………………………………………………………………………………………..

b.    The majority of people only experience earworms for short periods.

       Earworms ……………………………………………………………………………………………..…………..

c.     “More research is needed to see whether this will help counter symptoms of disorders”, said Beaman.

     According to Beaman, ……………………………………………………………………....

Question 5 (3 points) Write a short essay (120-150 words) on the following topic:

“Music is a very important part of our lives and it can be used in lots of different ways.”  Do you agree?