Speed Reading — Hip-Hop - Level 6 — 500 wpm 

Now do this put-the-text-back-together activity.

This is the text (if you need help).

Scientists have discovered a bizarre link between music and cheese. Different genres of music affect the way cheese matures. A top Swiss cheese-maker and a team of researchers from Switzerland's Bern University conducted a six-month test to look into the effect music had on the maturation process of Emmental cheese. After the cheese had matured, it was sampled and assessed by the researchers and a jury of culinary cheese experts. The researchers found that cheese that had been played hip-hop had a stronger aroma and flavor than the other samples. The cheese aficionados reached the same conclusion as the researchers - the hip-hop cheese was the tastiest.

The experiment involved exposing different cheeses to a 24-hour, non-stop musical loop. A music player directed sound waves at the cheese for six months. The experiment was titled "Cheese in Surround Sound". The music included Mozart's "The Magic Flute," Led Zeppelins rock classic "Stairway to Heaven," and A Tribe Called Quest's hip-hop tune "Jazz (We've Got)". A researcher explained the differences in taste. He said: "Bacteria are responsible for the formation of the taste of cheese, with the enzymes that influence its maturity. I am convinced that humidity, temperature or nutrients are not the only things that influence taste. Sounds, ultrasounds or music can also have physical effects."

Comprehension questions
  1. How was the link between cheese and hip-hop described as being?
  2. What university are the researchers from?
  3. What cheese did researchers conduct their tests on?
  4. How long was the test?
  5. What was the jury that assessed the cheese made up of?
  6. What did music players direct at the cheeses?
  7. What classical composer's music was used in the experiment?
  8. What was responsible for the formation of the taste of cheese?
  9. How sure is the researcher that other things influence taste?
  10. What did a researcher say might physically affect the taste of cheese?

Back to the hip-hop lesson.

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