The passage reviews research into why we laugh. Old theories saw humour as superiority or released tension, but most modern thinkers follow Aristotle's idea of incongruity. Brain scans show a joke involves widespread activity, ending in an area that evaluates information, and the writer argues humour reveals how the mind works in general.
The TRUE / FALSE / NOT GIVEN block (14-20) runs in order through the opening paragraphs. The diagram (21-23) is all in the paragraph on Goel's scan results. The sentence endings (24-27) follow the last three paragraphs in order.
Answer key and self-check
Type what you wrote and hit mark. Hide the key first if you haven't done the passage yet. Every question number jumps to its explanation.
How to attack this block: Each statement names a person or animal, which makes scanning easy. The hard part is the NOT GIVENs, which add one idea the passage doesn't contain (intelligence, personal situations). Question 18 needs you to recognise 'artificial intelligence' in a paraphrase.
Question 14
Answer: FALSEParagraph 1, last sentence
Did Koestler think laughter mattered biologically in several ways?
The writer Arthur Koestler dubbed it the luxury reflex: 'unique in that it serves no apparent biological purpose'.
Question says → Passage says
biologically important in several waysserves no apparent biological purpose
Why: FALSE. Koestler said laughter has no apparent biological purpose at all, which contradicts it being important in several ways. Calling it a 'luxury' reflex makes the same point.
The trap: The writer later argues the mechanism is 'no evolutionary accident', but that's the writer's view, not Koestler's. Keep track of who says what.
Question 15
Answer: NOT GIVENParagraph 2, second sentence
Did Plato see humour as a sign of high intelligence?
Plato expressed the idea that humour is simply a delighted feeling of superiority over others.
Question says → Passage says
Plato believed humour to bePlato expressed the idea that humour is
Why: NOT GIVEN. Plato links humour to feeling superior, but nothing is said about intelligence. Feeling superior and being more intelligent are different things.
The trap: 'Superiority' and 'above-average' sound alike, so people write TRUE. But superiority here is a feeling, not a measure of brains, and the passage doesn't connect them.
Question 16
Answer: TRUEParagraph 2, third sentence
Did Kant see a good joke as releasing built-up tension in a controlled way?
Kant and Freud felt that joke-telling relies on building up a psychic tension which is safely punctured by the ludicrousness of the punchline.
Question says → Passage says
controlled releasesafely punctured
nervous energypsychic tension
Why: TRUE. 'Psychic tension' is nervous energy, and 'safely punctured' is a controlled release. The punchline is what releases it.
The trap: Freud is named alongside Kant, which can make you unsure whose idea it is. The sentence gives it to both, so it's true of Kant.
Question 17
Answer: FALSEParagraph 2, last sentence
Have modern humour theorists mostly ignored Aristotle?
But most modern humour theorists have settled on some version of Aristotle's belief
Question says → Passage says
Current thinking on humourmost modern humour theorists
largely ignoredhave settled on some version of
Why: FALSE. Most modern theorists have adopted a version of Aristotle's idea, the opposite of ignoring it.
Question 18
Answer: TRUEParagraph 3, first sentence
Does Ritchie's research connect jokes with artificial intelligence?
studies the linguistic structure of jokes in order to understand not only humour but language understanding and reasoning in machines
Question says → Passage says
artificial intelligencelanguage understanding and reasoning in machines
Why: TRUE. Machines that understand language and reason are what we call artificial intelligence. He's a computational linguist studying jokes for that purpose.
The trap: The words 'artificial intelligence' never appear, so some students write NOT GIVEN. You have to recognise the paraphrase.
Question 19
Answer: NOT GIVENParagraph 3, last sentence
Do most comedians draw on personal situations for their humour?
A comedian will present a situation followed by an unexpected interpretation that is also apt.
Question says → Passage says
comedians use… situationsA comedian will present a situation
Why: NOT GIVEN. The passage says comedians present a situation and then a surprising twist. It never says whose situation, or that it's personal.
The trap: The word 'situation' matches, which pushes people to TRUE. 'Personal' and 'most comedians' are the parts with no support.
Question 20
Answer: TRUEParagraph 5
Do chimpanzees make certain sounds during play?
Chimpanzees have a 'play-face' - a gaping expression accompanied by a panting 'ah, ah' noise.
Question says → Passage says
particular noisesa panting 'ah, ah' noise
when they are playing'play-face'
Why: TRUE. The play-face comes with a specific panting 'ah, ah' noise, and the paragraph is about play signals.
The trap: Rats are the ones making 'ultrasonic squeaks' in the sentence before. That doesn't matter: the chimp detail on its own makes this TRUE.
Diagram labelling (NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS)
Questions 21-23
How to attack this block: All three labels come from one paragraph in the order the brain lights up. Each answer follows a link phrase (critical for, activity in, associated with). Keep to two words.
Question 21
Answer: problem solvingParagraph 8, second sentence
Also accepted: problem-solving
What is the right prefrontal cortex thought to be important for?
particularly the right prefrontal believed to be critical for problem solving
Question says → Passage says
area of brain linked tobelieved to be critical for
Why: The label names the right prefrontal cortex, and the passage says it's critical for problem solving. Two words, within the limit; 'problem-solving' with a hyphen is also accepted.
The trap: 'Stored knowledge' is in the next sentence, but that belongs to the temporal lobes.
Question 22
Answer: temporal lobesParagraph 8, third sentence
Which other part of the brain also becomes active at the start of the joke?
But there was also activity in the temporal lobes at the side of the head
Question says → Passage says
become active toothere was also activity in
Why: 'Also activity' matches 'active too'. The gap needs a plural noun because of 'become', and 'temporal lobes' is exactly two words.
The trap: Writing just 'lobes' loses the meaning, and 'many other brain areas' is too vague and too long.
Question 23
Answer: evaluating informationParagraph 8, last sentence
What is the orbital prefrontal cortex involved in?
This patch of brain tucked behind the orbits of the eyes is associated with evaluating information.
Question says → Passage says
involved withassociated with
Why: 'Involved with' is 'associated with', and the two words after it are the answer: evaluating information.
The trap: Paragraph 9 says the orbital cortex feeds feelings into 'higher-level thought processes'. That's the writer's next idea, and it's too long for the gap.
Sentence endings (A-G)
Questions 24-27
How to attack this block: Three endings are distractors about evolution and the origins of language and laughter, which the last paragraphs don't discuss. Match each beginning to its own paragraph: the brain's demanding job, language and inner life, individual outlook, then Derks.
Question 24
Answer: CParagraph 9, first two sentences
Which ending describes one of the brain's most demanding jobs?
Making a rapid emotional assessment of the events of the moment is an extremely demanding job for the brain… retuned in the blink of an eye
Question says → Passage says
most difficult tasksan extremely demanding job
respond instantlyrapid emotional assessment / in the blink of an eye
whatever is happeningthe events of the moment
Why: C. 'Demanding job' is 'difficult task', and the job is assessing 'the events of the moment' rapidly. That's responding instantly to whatever is happening.
The trap: E, coping with difficult situations, borrows the idea of difficulty. But the difficulty is in the brain's task, not in the situations it faces.
Question 25
Answer: AParagraph 10, first sentence
What can humans do because of language?
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
Question says → Passage says
Because of the language they have developedas a result of language
react to their own thoughtsrespond emotionally… to their own thoughts
Why: A. Language gave humans a richer inner life, so they react emotionally to their own thoughts, not only to the world around them.
The trap: B reverses cause and effect: language led to the complex inner life, not humour creating language.
Question 26
Answer: FParagraph 10, last sentence
What do different people's reactions to humour depend on?
Whether a joke gives pleasure or pain depends on a person's outlook.
Question says → Passage says
Individual responses to humourWhether a joke gives pleasure or pain
relate to a person's subjective viewsdepends on a person's outlook
Why: F. Your 'outlook' is your subjective view, and whether a joke pleases or hurts depends on it.
Question 27
Answer: DParagraph 11, last sentence
What does Derks think humour could tell us?
If we can figure out how the mind processes humour, then we'll have a pretty good handle on how it works in general.
Question says → Passage says
valuable information about the operation of the braina pretty good handle on how it works in general
Why: D. Understanding how the mind handles humour would give 'a good handle' on how the mind works generally. That's useful information about how the brain operates.
The trap: B and G are about how humour or language evolved. Derks talks about the mind's mechanism now, not about origins.
C. The 'demanding job' is a rapid assessment of the events of the moment, which means responding instantly, not coping with difficult situations.
Words from this passage worth keeping
pedigree(Paragraph 2)
a long and respected history
incongruity(Paragraph 2)
something that doesn't fit or seems out of place
apt(Paragraph 3)
suitable or fitting
appeasement(Paragraph 5)
calming others to avoid conflict
scuffles(Paragraph 5)
short, confused fights
arousal(Paragraph 9)
a state of alertness and readiness in the body
milking(Paragraph 10)
getting as much benefit as possible from something
Sit this test on Langujet, then come back
The full Cambridge 5 Test 2 reading paper: all three passages, 60 minutes, marked the second you finish with a review of every answer. Already done it? Take it again and see if the same traps still get you.
Cambridge IELTS 5, Test 2, Reading Passage 2. The passage and questions belong to Cambridge University Press and are not reproduced here. We quote short extracts only as evidence for our own commentary, and the answers are published for self-marking. Get the book for the full text, or sit the test on Langujet.
