Music has a tendency to get stuck in our heads. Sometimes a tune intrudes onour thoughts and then plays, and replays, in a never-ending loop. This interestingphenomenon becomes a subject explored by many scientists. They use a rangeof terms to describe it—stuck-song syndrome, sticky music, cognitive itch, ormost commonly “earworm.” Earworms can run around our heads for severalminutes to numerous hours. As the melody repeats, it becomes embedded intoour mind. Even though our ears do not hear the tune, our brain continues to playit.
         Earworms often take the form of song fragments rather than entire songs,and the song is usually a familiar one. Researchers are not sure why some songsare more likely to get stuck in our heads than others, but everyone has their owntunes. Often those songs have a simple, upbeat melody and catchy, repetitivelyrics, such as popular commercial jingles and slightly annoying radio hits. Recentor repeated exposure to a song or even a small part of a song can also triggerearworms, as can word associations, such as a phrase similar to the lyrics of asong.
        While earworms might be annoying, most people who experience themnevertheless report that they are pleasant or at least neutral. Only a third ofpeople are disturbed by the song in their heads. How people cope with theirearworms seems to depend on how they feel about them. Those who havepositive feelings about their stuck songs prefer to just “let them be,” while thosewith negative feelings turn to more behavioral responses, which include copingstrategies such as singing, talking, or even praying.
【題組】33. According to the passage, which of the following is true about an earworm?
(A) It is a creature living inside our ears.
(B) It is a tune memorized in a personal way.
(C) It is a melody repeating in our heads.
(D) It is a commercial recalled through lyrics.