Earworm
Earworm is not a worm that lives in an ear; it is what happens when a song gets stuck in your head. Students will read a passage about earworms and answer questions about main idea, text structure, author’s purpose, drawing conclusions, and text features.
Reading Comprehension Passage
Earworm
Reading Comprehension Questions
Vocabulary List
Vocabulary List
Each of the vocabulary words below are used in the reading passage. As you read the passage, pay attention to context clues that suggest the word’s meaning.
- involuntary
- fixated
- triggered
- pesky
- prolong
Context Clues
Context Clues
Using context clues from the sentences in the passage, underline the correct meaning of the word in boldface.
1) "The scientific name for this is involuntary musical imagery"
a. about the ear b. developed; enhanced c. uncontrolled; unintentional d. unusual; odd
2) "others end up fixated on songs they find annoying"
a. focused or stuck b. humming or singing c. repairing; correcting d. deciding
3) "it can be triggered by a memory"
a. rewritten b. started or caused c. rearranged d. stopped; ended
4) "Engaging in a task that requires concentration can remove the pesky earworm"
a. funny; unusual b. harmful c. annoying or troublesome d. pleasing or melodious
5) "if the task requires too much effort, it can actually prolong the earworm"
a. stop or halt b. reduce or shorten c. change or alter d. lengthen or drag out