Reading comp PrepTest 130 · Section 2 · Question 26

Passage

Questions 21-27 Passage A  .        In music, a certain complexity of sounds can be  . expected to have a Remaining source text redacted.
Passage walkthrough
Passage Summary

Topic: Humanities


Passage A

Paragraph 1

  • Paragraph note
    • What makes music enjoyable
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
    • Not too simple, not too complex/disorganized
    • Moderate complexity with coherence

Paragraph 2

  • Paragraph note
    • Relate music and language
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
    • Music and language need some combo/sequence/rhythm to convey meaning/be enjoyable
    • Music - This is melody

Paragraph 3

  • Paragraph note
    • Relaxing music, explanation
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
    • Continuous/rhythmic music is relaxing
    • Why? Sudden unexpected sounds = danger in nature
    • Constant noise = peaceful

Passage B

Paragraph 1

  • Paragraph note
    • Music, expectation emotion - process/sequence
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
    • Musical elements create expectation → Not resolved → Tension → Release
    • Emotion = Tension and release (scales up)

Paragraph 2

  • Paragraph note
    • Negative vs. Positive emotions
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
    • Negative - Music diverges from expectations
    • Positive - Music meets expected course

Paragraph 3

  • Paragraph note
    • Factors in enjoyment
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
    • Factors - Complexity and novelty
    • Enjoyment positively correlated with familiarity until totally known
    • Enjoyment from constant level of positive emotions
    • Complexity - Higher more enjoyable for experienced listener; Lower more enjoyable for “naive listener”

Main Points:

Passage A - Complexity and continuity both are key elements in music in determining what emotional impact that music will have.

Passage B - Musical elements factor into expectations in music, and how well that music matches expectations determines enjoyment.

Key Lines?

Passage A:

  • Lines 6-8 - What makes music enjoyable
  • Line 9 - An analogy is introduced
  • Line 18 - A phenomenon
  • Lines 21-22 - An explanation
  • Lines 28-29 - Another element of enjoyable music

Passage B:

  • Lines 35-38 - A phenomenon/relationship
  • Lines 46-49 - A causal relationship
  • Lines 50-52 - Factors in enjoyment
  • Lines 54-57 - Relationship between familiarity and enjoyment
  • Lines 60-63 - Relationship between complexity and enjoyment

Meta-Structure? Relationship Between Passages?

Both passages discuss elements of music that have an emotional impact. Passage A discusses how complexity and melody factor into enjoyment (Paragraphs 1 and 2), and how continuity factors into relaxation (Paragraph 3). Passage B talks about the connection between emotion and expectation (Paragraphs 1 and 2), and how other factors such as complexity and novelty factor into these expectations (Paragraph 3).

Phenomenon/Explanation (Both) - As we noted above, both passages describe a variety of effects that music has on people. Those effects can be seen as phenomena, and both passages provide some explanations for these phenomena. Passage A provides three general Explanations for emotional reactions to music - complexity, melody, and continuity. Passage B provides a few that can all be lumped under the same bucket - expectation. These explanations for phenomena tend to be the main point of a passage that falls into this Meta-Structure, as reflected in our statements of the main point above.

Last Thoughts?

These passages were very detail heavy. They do make points about the relationship between music and elements of music and emotion, but it’s not nearly as strong of an “argument” as we usually see. As such, let’s focus on those details as we work through the questions.

Question prompt

Which one of the Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: B

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

Question Type

Humanities

Strategy Overview

Review the main points as we stated them and the answer to Question #22, then find an answer reflecting it

Answer Anticipation

First, note that this isn’t a question where we’re tasked with finding a separate title for each passage. Rather, it’s asking for a title that would work for both passages. So we should be thinking about the main points of the passages and how they overlap.That’s something we did already for Question #22! As such, we should rely on our answer to that question, as it reflects our understanding of the central theses of these two passages.That means we’re looking for an answer that would be a good title for passages that are focused on “the impact music can have on human emotional states.”

Answer choices

  1. A
    "The Biological Underpinnings of Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited

    (A) Neither passage discusses any biology, so this answer is out of scope.

  2. B
    "The Psychology of Listener Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B matches the stem

    (B) Emotions are inherently related to psychology, and the passages discuss emotional responses to music, so this is the correct answer.

  3. C
    "How Music Differs from Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited

    (C) (Line 9) Passage A compares music to language. But, first, language isn’t an art form (poetry or literature would be language-based art forms). And, second, Passage A says that music and language are similar, not different.

  4. D
    "Cultural Patterns in Listeners' Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited

    (D) Neither passage mentions different responses to music in different cultures, so this answer is out of scope.

  5. E
    "How Composers Convey Meaning Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited

    (E) While the passages do speak a bit to how music can create emotional states, which arguably can convey meaning, the passage doesn’t make that argument, or connect it to composers. For a Main Point question, make sure you’re picking an answer that reflects what the passage actually does, not what the information could potentially be used to support!

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A 11%
  2. B Credited 79%
  3. C 3%
  4. D 4%
  5. E 3%

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