Passage
The word "edutainment" refers to educational entertainment, media designed to educate while entertaining the audience. One of the more successful of such enterprises was Square One, a television show that aired in the 1980s and 1990s. Focusing on mathematics, Square One aimed to instruct elementary school children in a way that captured their attention and made them eager to learn. Such objectives are common to most attempts at teaching. But well-made educational entertainment goes a step further than simply trying to make learning enjoyable; ideally, the program is of a quality such that audiences find it worthwhile to watch for its entertainment value alone.Square One approached this goal in a number of ways, its iconic music videos being one of the most memorable. Songs like "Angle Dance" and "Less Than Zero" described concepts such as acuteness or negative numbers, while the lyrics of "Archimedes" lauded the mathematical insights of that famous thinker. Most of the songs contained humorous elements: the exhausted singers of "That's Infinity" tried vainly to reach the largest number, while "Eight Percent of My Love" saw a boy serenade his girlfriend about the small fraction of love he could give her (having already given away 92 percent to friends, the USA, his bicycle, and other things). All of the songs boasted high production values and talented performers, subconsciously encouraging viewers to continue humming their lessons to themselves even after the show's closing credits.The creativity of these songs featured popular culture aspects that were often more noticeable to parents than to the child viewers themselves. For instance, adults could easily guess that "Ghost of a Chance" (a song about probability) was inspired by Michael Jackson's "Thriller," and "Juan Cougar" was a reference to an actual singer, John Cougar Mellencamp. Other parts of the show included similar references. Details such as these functioned as a bonus, however, as the target audience found the material compelling despite not grasping all the references that elicited smiles from their elders. Cabot and Marshmallow's "What's in a Name?" was comedic even without knowledge of the famous Abbott and Costello "Who's on First?" skit from which it was derived. The math-based detective work of "Mathnet" was amusing and instructional even to those too young to have seen Dragnet.In addition to the music, skits, cartoons, and parodies constituting many of the program's segments, game shows were another way in which Square One imparted instruction. The prizes were unexciting (everyday apparel bearing the Square One logo), but that was to be expected for a production that aired on public broadcasting. Of course, the prizes were also not the point. Part of the draw of a commercial game show may be a fabulous package of expensive prizes and money, but the game shows of Square One focused on education.In light of that distinction, one can imagine the most typical criticism of any educational entertainment program. Education and entertainment are, at their cores, not aimed at the same ends. Whether it is the worse crime to be insufficiently didactic or to be excessively didactic may depend on whom one asks; either way, one might worry that a work attempting to impart both amusement and instruction would ultimately fail in at least one of those objectives. Yet Square One was that rare instance in which both goals were met. Many children who disliked mathematics in school still enjoyed viewing a show with songs and skits about the subject, and for those who already enjoyed mathematics, all the better. Teachers had good reason to be happy about the show's existence, and its lively presentation of educational concepts can surely be credited with the improved academic performance of many students.
-Based on passage information, which of the following is most analogous to the role of popular culture references in Square One?

Question

Passage
The word "edutainment" refers to educational entertainment, media designed to educate while entertaining the audience.  One of the more successful of such enterprises was Square One, a television show that aired in the 1980s and 1990s.  Focusing on mathematics, Square One aimed to instruct elementary school children in a way that captured their attention and made them eager to learn.  Such objectives are common to most attempts at teaching.  But well-made educational entertainment goes a step further than simply trying to make learning enjoyable; ideally, the program is of a quality such that audiences find it worthwhile to watch for its entertainment value alone.Square One approached this goal in a number of ways, its iconic music videos being one of the most memorable.  Songs like "Angle Dance" and "Less Than Zero" described concepts such as acuteness or negative numbers, while the lyrics of "Archimedes" lauded the mathematical insights of that famous thinker.  Most of the songs contained humorous elements: the exhausted singers of "That's Infinity" tried vainly to reach the largest number, while "Eight Percent of My Love" saw a boy serenade his girlfriend about the small fraction of love he could give her (having already given away 92 percent to friends, the USA, his bicycle, and other things).  All of the songs boasted high production values and talented performers, subconsciously encouraging viewers to continue humming their lessons to themselves even after the show's closing credits.The creativity of these songs featured popular culture aspects that were often more noticeable to parents than to the child viewers themselves.  For instance, adults could easily guess that "Ghost of a Chance" (a song about probability) was inspired by Michael Jackson's "Thriller," and "Juan Cougar" was a reference to an actual singer, John Cougar Mellencamp.  Other parts of the show included similar references.  Details such as these functioned as a bonus, however, as the target audience found the material compelling despite not grasping all the references that elicited smiles from their elders.  Cabot and Marshmallow's "What's in a Name?" was comedic even without knowledge of the famous Abbott and Costello "Who's on First?" skit from which it was derived.  The math-based detective work of "Mathnet" was amusing and instructional even to those too young to have seen Dragnet.In addition to the music, skits, cartoons, and parodies constituting many of the program's segments, game shows were another way in which Square One imparted instruction.  The prizes were unexciting (everyday apparel bearing the Square One logo), but that was to be expected for a production that aired on public broadcasting.  Of course, the prizes were also not the point.  Part of the draw of a commercial game show may be a fabulous package of expensive prizes and money, but the game shows of Square One focused on education.In light of that distinction, one can imagine the most typical criticism of any educational entertainment program.  Education and entertainment are, at their cores, not aimed at the same ends.  Whether it is the worse crime to be insufficiently didactic or to be excessively didactic may depend on whom one asks; either way, one might worry that a work attempting to impart both amusement and instruction would ultimately fail in at least one of those objectives.  Yet Square One was that rare instance in which both goals were met.  Many children who disliked mathematics in school still enjoyed viewing a show with songs and skits about the subject, and for those who already enjoyed mathematics, all the better.  Teachers had good reason to be happy about the show's existence, and its lively presentation of educational concepts can surely be credited with the improved academic performance of many students.
-Based on passage information, which of the following is most analogous to the role of popular culture references in Square One?

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Paragraph 3 states that Square One's material "featured popular culture aspects that were often more noticeable to parents than to the child viewers themselves," and that "the target audience found the material compelling despite not grasping all the references…." As such, these references "functioned as a bonus" to Square One's material but were not integral to the purpose of the program, which was to teach and entertain. Similarly, diamonds decorating a watch are extra additions (ie, a bonus feature) that are not integral to the purpose of the watch, which is to tell time. Accordingly, these diamonds are most analogous to the role of popular culture references in Square One. By contrast, none of the following are analogous to the role of popular culture references in Square One, because they are main features rather than a bonus: the feathers of a peacock, a distinctive and obvious mark of the species (Choice A). Because a peacock's feathers are distinctive and obvious, they are a primary component of any person's conception of the animal. The same is not true of Square One's popular culture references, which were extra features "that were often more noticeable to parents than to the child viewers themselves" (Paragraph 3). the external frame of a house, supporting the rest of the structure(Choice C). The support provided by the frame of a house is essential for the rest of the structure to stand, rather than a bonus feature like the popular culture references in Square One. a hidden code in a document, expressing the document's true meaning(Choice D). Knowledge of such a code would be required to understand the main point of the document in question. However, knowledge of Square One's popular culture references was not required to understand the main point of its material, which was "amusing and instructional, even to those too young" to understand those references (Paragraph 3).

Passage the Word "Edutainment" Refers to Educational Entertainment, Media Designed to to Educate