Reading comp PrepTest 104 · Section 2 · Question 3

Passage

Questions 1-6  .        The career of trumpeter Miles Davis was one of the  . most astonishingly productive that jazz Remaining source text redacted.
Passage walkthrough
Passage Summary

Topic: Humanities


Paragraph 1

  • Paragraph note
    • Author's conclusion (Oddly, Miles Davis's incredible jazz does not get its due)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Comparison, according to the author:
      • Davis had one of the most astonishingly productive careers (first sentence)
    • Cause-and-effect relationship, according to the author:
      • The impatience and restlessness in his work caused many stylistic turns and critics to turn on Davis (last sentence)
    • Author's attitude: "the most astonishingly productive" (first sentence); "his genius has never received its due" (second sentence); "ever more innovative sounds" (last sentence)

Paragraph 2

  • Paragraph note
    • Author's support (Davis moving from bebop to West Coast cool jazz)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Comparison, according to the author:
      • Davis's group in NYC making West Coast cool jazz, unlike bebop music, featured ensembles as much so, or more, than solos and slowed down tempos (last sentence)
    • Author's attitude: "first of many … surprises" (first sentence)

Paragraph 3

  • Paragraph note
    • Author's support (Davis again switched to a new, less-restrictive style in late 1950s)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Comparisons, according to the author:
      • Unlike his West Coast cool jazz, in his next period allowed soloists to determine their own melodies instead of following the old restrictive pattern of chord changes (first through third sentences)
      • This new sound was similar to classical orchestral music; no matter how similar the recordings are to jazz, the instruments and rhythms are muted (last sentence)
    • Author attitude: "characteristic" (sentence one); "unified and integrated" (fourth sentence); "always understated … seem muted" (last sentence)

Paragraph 4

  • Paragraph note
    • Author's support (Davis began adding electronic instruments and editing improvisations in 1960s, angering critics)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Comparison, according to the author:
      • Unlike his last era, Davis began using rock-style beats, electronic instruments, and heavy improvisations, creating a jagged sound scape (second through third sentences)
      • Similar to rock groups and movie editing, Davis had musicians improvise in-studio, then edited the tapes to make the finished product (third and fourth sentences)
      • But this was unlike jazz lovers' expectations (fifth and last sentences)
    • Cause-and-effect relationship, according to the author:
      • Davis's request that Hancock play electric, not acoustic, piano caused consternation among jazz purists (second sentence)
    • Author's attitude: "once again" (first sentence); "jagged soundscapes" (third sentence); "fierce polemics" (last sentence); "continued to belittle his contributions" (last sentence)

Paragraph 5

  • Paragraph note
    • Author's interpretation of critical backlash (Davis's evolution made it hard for critics to rank/appreciate him)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Cause-and-effect relationship, according to the author:
      • Fear of Davis's exploration of possibilities probably led to the intense reactions against him (first sentence)
      • The fact that Davis's career endured, didn't die young, recorded consistently, and didn't dwell in any one niche caused the critics to find ranking Davis into their narrow aesthetic hierarchies (last sentence)
    • Comparison
      • Davis did the same thing all jazz explorers have done — trying to make his own style (second sentence)
    • Author attitude: "probably underlies the intensity" (first sentence); "broadening of possibilities that he exemplified" (first sentence); "ironically" (second sentence); "find it difficult to definitively rank Davis in the aesthetic hierarchy to which they clung" (last sentence)

Main Point: Davis's constant evolution made it difficult for critics to compare his career to other jazz musicians, and thus his genius never received its due.

Key Lines?

Paragraph 1, Sentence 3 (P1, S3) - Criticisms and defense introduced

P5, S3 - Author's final defense

Meta-Structure?

Rebutting Critics: This passage utilizes a Rebutting Critics Meta-Structure*. In such a passage, the author generallys presents criticisms of the subject matter, before mounting a defense against those critiques. Here, the author mentions that Miles Davis, despite his proliferous "genius," was "anathema" (someone who is intensely loathed) to critics (P1, S1-3). The author ultimately defends Davis against these criticisms in the final paragraph. Davis was doing what jazz explorers always did, he just did it for so long and at such a high level that critics had trouble pigeonholing him into their narrow aesthetic rankings (P5, S2-3).

The main point in a Rebutting Critics passage is generally the author's central defense of the subject matter. We could look to the last sentence to help us answer the main point, or to our summary of the author's defense ("Davis's constant evolution made it difficult for critics to compare his career to other jazz musicians, and thus his genius never received its due.")

*You may have concluded this is another Critical Meta-Structure passage, like a Criticizing a Viewpoint or Correcting the Record. You may have even thought this had a Descriptive Meta-Structure, like Question/Answer (Q: Why wasn't Davis appreciated more? A: Critics had trouble ranking him). You may have even gotten a bit out there and thought of this as a Paradox/Resolution passage since Davis's genius and the critical backlash is a discrepancy that the author resolves in the last paragraph. These would all work just fine for this passage. Remember, there's no one right answer when it comes to Meta-Structures. That said, we don't think that Innovative Subject or Importance of Subject are great fits for this passage. The author wants to do more than just show why Davis is innovative or important — the author wants to rebut the critics' position.

Comparison: The most prominent minor Meta-Structure is the comparison. No surprise there, since the author is constantly comparing one era of Davis to another. The author also compares Davis's 1960s approach to movie directors and rock bands. The author also compares Davis artistic restlessness to other jazz visionaries. The questions will likely ask about one or two of these comparisons, so highlighting the comparative words should help us locate the relevant details.

Last Thoughts?

Did you notice how many author's attitude words we highlighted/underlined? Get ready for some Tone questions. We'll also get some Minor Point or Application questions about all the different eras of Miles Davis. But highlighting the minor Meta-Structures will help us with those. Hey, if highlighting author's attitude and minor Meta-Structures is cool, consider us Miles Davis.

Question prompt

The passage suggests which Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: A

The notes below walk through why it fits the stem and how to eliminate the rest.

Question Type

Humanities

Strategy Overview

Refer to notes or what you highlighted/underline to locate where the passage discusses Davis's jazz before 1948, and refer to the relevant part of the passage as needed to find that answer choice that must be true

Answer Anticipation

For questions that ask us to infer, from a few details in the passage, an answer choice that must be true, quickly finding and reviewing those details is critical. That is why we make brief notes describing the role of each paragraph and highlight or underline definitions and the minor Meta-Structures — doing so helps us find the salient information efficiently and reliably. Once we review that part of the passage, we can look through the answer choices to see which one is best supported by what we reviewed. Since the question stem asks us to make an inference, the correct answer probably won't restate something from the passage. Instead, the question will likely require us to draw a connection between a few different pieces of information.Here, the question asks about Davis's jazz before 1948. Where did those show up in the passage? Well, the passage gives a generally chronological account of some major changes in Davis's jazz style, with the second paragraph discussing changes occurring in 1948; the third discussing changes from the late 1950s; and the fourth, changes from the late 1960s.Although pre-1948 is not specifically discussed, we do know from the first sentence of the second paragraph that Davis began his career studying bebop and then helped create a new style which became West Coast cool jazz. As we noted in the second question, this jazz style features "slowed down tempos" with "ensemble playing as much as or even more than solos," which was "in direct reaction to bebop." Expert test-takers reading for Minor Meta-Structures may have noticed this as a comparison to bebop. So, we are looking for an answer that says that Davis played bebop before 1949, which was faster than West Coast cool and featured more solos.

Answer choices

  1. A
    It was characterized by Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A matches the stem

    (A) Does this answer choice say that Davis played bebop, which was faster than West Coast cool and had more solos?

    It sure does! We could select this one and advance directly to the next question, but only the most confident test-takers would probably feel comfortable doing so. Because this is an inference question about something not directly stated in the passage, even expert test-takers may want to hold on to this one while eliminating the other answer choices, just to be sure.

  2. B
    It equally balanced ensemble Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited

    (B) Does this answer choice say that Davis played bebop, which was faster than West Coast cool and had more solos?

    No. But some test-takers are tempted by this answer choice, so let's figure out why it's wrong. It is not true that bebop balanced ensemble and solo playing because we are told that, unlike bebop, the new West Coast cool style featured at least as much ensemble playing as solos (P2, S2). So, West Coast cool was at least 50% ensemble playing, unlike bebop. So, bebop must be less than 50% ensemble playing, which means it has to feature more solos than ensembles.

  3. C
    It was a reaction Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited

    (C) Does this answer choice say that Davis played bebop, which was faster than West Coast cool and had more solos?

    No. But like answer choice (B), some test-takers are enticed by this one. According to the passage, it is not until the late 1950s that Davis breaks away from restrictive chord progressions in jazz (P3, S2), so this is a reference to the wrong period.

  4. D
    It is regarded by Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited

    (D) Does this answer choice say that Davis played bebop, which was faster than West Coast cool and had more solos?

    Nope. However, like (B) and (C), some test-takers are tempted by this answer choice. Is it true that critics believe that the only authentic jazz that Davis played was bebop?

    It's easy to assume that "purist" jazz critics fell in love with Davis's bebop and then resented him for moving on to other styles. (The first paragraph perhaps supports this inference, but even then, it seems more like Davis's constant changing drew the ire of critics. Critics weren't necessarily upset that he abandoned bebop but were instead frustrated by his repeated abandonment of any new style he pursued.) Even if this inference is supported, these critics might not believe bebop is the only "authentic" jazz style. Perhaps the only style they want Davis to play in, but that doesn't mean it's the only authentic style, period. In fact, this passage never discusses authenticity.

  5. E
    It was played primarily Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited

    (E) Does this answer choice say that Davis played bebop, which was faster than West Coast cool and had more solos?

    Nope. We can eliminate it immediately because there is no indication of where any of the jazz was primarily played in the passage. In fact, the only geographical setting the passage gives is that Davis helped create West Coast cool jazz, paradoxically, on the east coast in a NYC apartment (P2, S1). But we do not know where any of it was primarily played.

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A Credited 66%
  2. B 10%
  3. C 11%
  4. D 12%
  5. E 1%

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Discussion

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