Which sentence best states the essay's argument?

Boredom does useful work, and constant distraction removes it. (The essay claims boredom has a function, that the mind starts producing when left alone, and that the phone removes the pressure that made this happen.)

How does the essay define boredom?

Having attention available with nothing obvious to spend it on. (Paragraph two gives the definition word for word.)

What does the essay imply the phone does to the mind?

It closes the uncomfortable gap before the mind can produce anything. (The discomfort is called 'the engine'. The phone closes the gap at once, so the engine never runs.)

The writer says a mind with nothing to do is not "idle". Idle here means

doing no work at all (The next sentence corrects the idea: the mind is searching, so it is not doing nothing.)

The Use of Boredom: Level 3 Reading Comprehension Questions

Boredom has a bad name, and it earned some of it. Nobody enjoys the flat, gray hour when nothing seems worth doing. But I have come to think that hour has a function, and that we have quietly deleted it from our lives.

Consider what boredom actually is. It is the state of having attention available and nothing obvious to spend it on. That is an uncomfortable position, and the mind treats it as a problem to solve. Left alone, it starts producing: a half-idea, an old memory, a plan for Saturday. The discomfort is the engine.

Now consider the phone. The moment attention comes free, there is something to spend it on, endlessly and at almost no cost. The unpleasant gap closes before it can do any work. We have not defeated boredom; we have removed the pressure that boredom used to create.

I am not arguing for suffering. I am arguing that a mind with nothing to do is not idle. It is searching, and searching is expensive to interrupt.

Comprehension questions