Who Made the Rhythm?

Written by Studio AM.

Four neighbors create a rhythm for a street play. Suri taps a steady pulse. Tomas adds two quick beats, Mei leaves a pause, and Anwar brings everyone back together. When the pattern is finished, they ask who made it.

No single player can claim the whole rhythm. Remove any one part, and the pattern changes. Still, saying nobody made it ignores four real contributions. The rhythm comes from their coordinated action, not from one pair of hands working alone. This suggests a way to describe shared work. A bridge, a meal, or an idea may also combine several people's contributions. The better question may be not who owns the result, but how each person helped it exist.

Questions

Choose an answer. The explanation appears after you answer.

  1. Question 1 of 4

    What is the main idea of the passage?

  2. Question 2 of 4

    Why would saying “nobody made it” be unfair to the neighbors?

  3. Question 3 of 4

    What does “coordinated” mean in the phrase “their coordinated action”?

  4. Question 4 of 4

    Which contribution does Mei make to the rhythm?

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