Reading comp PrepTest 130 · Section 2 · Question 27

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

It can be inferred Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: D

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

Question Type

Humanities

Strategy Overview

Review the overlap between the two passages, then find an answer aligning with that overlap, using our notes and the passages to find citations for the shared answer

Answer Anticipation

After reading through the passages, we said the following about their overlap: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).We also know that Questions #21, #22, and #26 provided more information about the overlap - both talk about complexity, both deal with how music influences emotions, and both are focused on the psychology of listener response to music.With these details in mind, let’s head to the answer choices. We can focus on those that align with these broad points, then support the correct answer with a line cite in each passage.

Answer choices

  1. A
    The more complex a Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited

    (A) (Lines 5-6; Lines 60-64) Complexity was brought up in both passages, so we should check this answer out. However, Passage A says that music that is “too complex” can be overwhelming, and Passage B says that naive listeners prefer less complex music than trained ones. Both authors would thus disagree with this answer.

  2. B
    More knowledgeable listeners tend Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited

    (B) (Lines 60-64) Only Passage B talks about listeners of different knowledge levels, and it says that they prefer more complex melodies, not ones that are discontinuous and predictable.

  3. C
    The capacity of music Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited

    (C) This answer addresses the central topic of each passage, but we would have noted a superlative that would support this answer (“central determinant”).

  4. D
    Music that lacks a Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D matches the stem

    (D) (Lines 24-25; Lines 40-41; Lines 46-48) This answer connects music to an emotion, so we should see if the passages support it. Passage A claims that sudden, unexpected sounds signal danger in the natural world, and someone expecting danger certainly wouldn’t feel relaxed. Passage B says that when music doesn’t meet expectations, negative emotions result, and that relaxation is the result when music does meet expectations. As such, both passages provide evidence that their author’s believe music that lacks a predictable course (and thus is unexpected and doesn’t meet expectations) wouldn’t lead to relaxation, so this is the correct answer.

  5. E
    Music that changes from Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited

    (E) (Lines 21-22; Lines 46-49) This answer seems to be trying to get you to think that a shift from soft to loud would be sudden and unexpected, or lead to a mismatch between expectations or reality. But there’s no indication that the increase in volume didn’t happen gradually, or that this increase wasn’t a listener’s expectation based on the music’s progression. As such, we can’t use the information in either passage to connect such a shift in volume to a negative emotion, making this answer incorrect.

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A 10%
  2. B 5%
  3. C 20%
  4. D Credited 53%
  5. E 12%

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