Reading comprehension

Everyone experiences bad moods now and then, some more than others. But help may be on the way. In recent studies, scientists have found that music can improve people's moods. One study conducted by the University of Maryland showed that listening to a type of classical music called baroque helped improve the moods of medical workers who study images of people's organs and bones. It also helped the medical workers feel greater satisfaction with their work.

But not only classical music helps people feel better. In fact, a Penn State University study of college students showed that any kind of music the students listened to helped produce more positive emotions, such as joy, affection, and calm.

How can you help yourself with music? Try a music-listening diary, as did the students the Penn State study. Before you listen to music, record how you are feeling. Then get your radio, CD player, or MP3 player and turn on your favorite kind of music. The college students most often listened to rock music, but you can choose any kind. Next, do whatever activity you would normally do while listening to music. For example, the college participants studied, exercised, and socialized. After listening to the music, write down how long you listened and how you feel now. Keep the diary for a couple of weeks, and find out if music really does make a difference.

In the third paragraph, the author is mainly trying to help readers ....... .

1) find a variety of ways to improve their moods.

2) interpret the data from the studies

3) choose their favorite kind of music

4) discover how music affects their moods

Me: 4
Answer key: 3

In fact, the passage does nothing at all to help readers choose their favourite type of music. It merely instructs them to do so as part of the aforementioned discovery process.