Reading comp PrepTest 150 · Section 4 · Question 7

Passage

Questions 1-7 This passage was adapted from an article published in 2003.  .       For two decades, Wynton Marsalis complemented  . Remaining source text redacted.
Passage walkthrough
Passage Summary

Topic: Humanities


Paragraph 1

  • Paragraph note
    • Background on Marsalis's peak and his/jazz's uncertain future
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Comparison, according to the author:
      • At Wynton Marsalis's peak, he was a major influencer and advocate for jazz music, but now he faces a critical backlash for his "neotraditionalism," and he and the jazz music genre face an uncertain future (second through last sentences)
    • Author's attitude: "extraordinary gifts" (first sentence), "pursuasive advocacy" (first sentence); "importance" (first sentence); "virtually unqualified admiration" (second sentence) "unsurpassed influence" (second sentence) "But…" (last sentence), "the biggest name in jazz" (last sentence), "uncertain" (last sentence)

Paragraph 2

  • Paragraph note
    • Elaborates on Marsalis's/jazz's uncertain future
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Examples showing how Marsalis and jazz face uncertain futures, according to author:
      • Marsalis has not released any new music since 1999 (second sentence)
      • Marsalis no longer has a record contract with any company (third sentence)
      • Record companies are not signing or promoting contemporary jazz artists (last sentence)
    • Author's attitude: "prestigious" (third sentence); "essentially gave up" (last sentence)

Paragraph 3

  • Paragraph note
    • Critics: Marsalis is to blame since he emphasized classicism and discouraged innovation
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Cause-and-effect relaionship, according to critics:
      • Marsalis' emphasis on tradition has stifled innovation in jazz the genre, which has partially caused some of the problems facing jazz (first through last sentence)
    • Example to support critics' point of view:
      • Quote from Columbia music executive (last sentence)
    • Author's attitude: "grim state of affairs" (first sentence); "evident master" (first sentence)

Paragraph 4

  • Paragraph note
    • Author's rebuttal: Marsalis encouraged innovation, but record companies took the wrong lesson
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Author's view:
      • Marsalis never just replicated tradition — he explored how traditional elements could be reimagined in new contexts (second sentence)
    • Record executives' view:
      • Marsalis showed how great and timeless old jazz artists were, so record companies should exclusively release older jazz recordings instead of investing in new jazz artists (third through last sentences)
    • Author's attitude: "Indeed" (first sentence); "great emphasis" (first sentence); "Still" (second sentence); "never advocated mere revivalism" (second sentence); "individualistic expression" (second sentence); "push it forward" (second sentence)

Paragraph 5

  • Paragraph note
    • Author's explanation of the current state of jazz
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Author's view:
      • Marsalis's promotion of jazz masters led record companies to see the jazz masters as "brand names," which led the companies to re-release jazz albums from these masters rather than fund new talent (first and last sentence)
    • Comparison of responses to Marsalis's promotion of jazz masters, according to the author:
      • Young jazz musicians viewed jazz masters as role models, critics viewed this promotion as excessive worship, and record companies realized the jazz masters are profitable brand names (first sentence)
    • Comparison of market incentives for record companies, according to the author:
      • It's far more profitable to re-release old albums than to find, record, and promote new artists (last sentence)
    • Author's attitude: "brand names" (first sentence); "the ultimate prize" (first sentence), "irresistible" (last sentence), "far more profitable" (second sentence)

Main Point: By championing an appreciation for jazz traditions amongst his followers, Wynton Marsalis has ironically helped record companies realize that they should exclusively re-release old jazz albums rather than promote modern artists.

Key Lines?

Paragraph 1, Sentence 3 (P1, S3)- Introduces phenomenon

P3, S1 - Critics' explanation

P3, S3 - Example supporting critics' point of view

P4, S2-3 - Author's explanation

Meta-Structure?

Phenomenon/Explanation: We think the Phenomenon/Explanation Meta-Structure best fits this passage's structure*. In this passage, the author introduces a phenomenon and offers two related explanations for that phenomenon. In the first paragraph, the author introduces the phenomenon — that jazz music now faces an uncertain future. After providing the specifics of this "grim state of affairs" in the second paragraph, the third paragraph describes some critics' explanation for jazz's decline. The critics allege that Wynton Marsalis, a popular jazz trumpeter and jazz history advocate, is to blame for jazz's downfall (P3, S1). The author provides their own account in the fourth paragraph. The author argues that the critics are only partially correct. The author notes that Marsalis never wanted to stifle jazz's innovation; however, his promotion of jazz masters led record companies to realize that it's more profitable to re-release jazz masters' recordings than to find and promote new artists (P4, S2 - P5, S2).

In a Phenomenon/Explanation Meta-Structure, the main point is generally the explanation that the author presents or endorses. Here, the author presents their explanation in the fourth and fifth paragraphs. Because the author did not summarize the main point in one sentence, we did so for the author: "By championing an appreciation for jazz traditions amongst his followers, Wynton Marsalis has ironically helped record companies realize that they should exclusively re-release old jazz albums rather than promote modern artists."

*Since the author ultimately disagrees with the critics' explanation, you might see this as a Criticizing a Viewpoint, Rebutting Critics, or Correcting the Record passage. We don't think the author spends enough time criticizing/rebutting/correcting the critics to apply any of these Meta-Structures. Alternatively, there's an argument that this is an Importance of Subject passage. Despite our quibbles, any one of these designations would likely lead you to a solid understanding of this passage's structure. Let's keep in mind that the Meta-Structures are tools to help us think about and describe the passage's structure. We don't need to be 100% correct in which Meta-Structure we choose to develop a strong structural understanding.

 

Last Thoughts?

There's plenty of author's attitude here (which shouldn't surprise us, given the humanities subject matter). Tracking the author's attitude is one of our primary jobs as we read Reading Comprehension passages. Doing so will help us understand the Meta-Structure and the main point and even predict where the author's argument will go. When we can trace this much attitude, we should also expect an abnormally high percentage of the questions to relate to the author's beliefs.

Question prompt

The passage provides information Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: E

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

Question Type

Humanities

Strategy Overview

This is a variation of a Must Be True question where each answer choice is, in the style of Jeopardy, in the form of a question. The correct answer will feature a question that the passage answers. The four incorrect answers will present a question that the passage doesn't answer.These questions generally provide no indication as to the topic of the correct answer or where it'll show up in the passage. As such, we'll need to rely on our big-picture understanding of the passage to answer this question. We should start by reminding ourselves of the main point (either by reviewing what we said after reading the passage or by re-reading our answer to the main point question). From there, we can head to the answer choices. If we can't recall the answer to a question in a given answer choice, we shouldn't search the passage for an answer. Instead, we'll table that answer choice and move on to the next one. If we can recall the answer to a question — even vaguely — we'll use our notes/highlights/underlines to find the part of the passage that provides the answer. If we can point to the answer in the passage, we'll select that answer choice and move on to the next question.

Answer choices

  1. A
    In the two years Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited

    (A) Do you remember the answer to the question, "In the two years after 1999, did Marsalis compose any new music?"

    Many test-takers think they do. After all, many of us can recall that Marsalis released 15 albums in 1999 (P2, S1) — which is, let's be honest, a ridiculous number of albums and thus a memorable detail. (Additionally, the tricky test-writers planted this detail in our mind in (E) in the previous question, which is the last answer choice we probably read.)

    If you think you remember the answer to this question, return to the passage. In the second paragraph, the author says that in the two years after 1999, Marsalis "did not release a single collection of new music" (P2, S2). But does that mean that Marsalis didn't compose any new music? Not necessarily! Marsalis could have composed new music (the man was, after all, very prolific) that he didn't release (perhaps recognizing that the world needed time to digest his 15 records). Therefore, the passage answers whether Marsalis released new music in the two years following 1999. It does not answer whether Marsalis composed new music in the two years following 1999.

  2. B
    Are Marsalis's fans drawn Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited

    (B) Do you remember the answer to the question, "Are Marsalis's fans drawn mainly from younger or from older jazz lovers?"

    Almost certainly not. This passage described critics, jazz musicians, and record executives. It never told us about jazz fans. For that reason, (B) is unsupported and should be eliminated.

  3. C
    Has Marsalis ever released Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited

    (C) Do you remember the answer to the question, "Has Marsalis ever released a CD consisting of only jazz standards?"

    Probably not. If you do not recall the answer to this question, it's best to table this answer choice and look at the next one. There's no pressing need to invest time researching whether the passage answers this question.

    If you eventually decide you need to search for an answer to this question, you'll see that the author says that Marsalis "never advocated mere revivalism" and always tried to take "traditional elements" and make them his own (P4, S2). This suggests that Marsalis probably didn't release a CD containing only jazz standards. That would be the kind of "revivalism" the author said Marsalis avoided. At any rate, the passage doesn't provide a definitive answer to (C), so it can be eliminated.

  4. D
    Why did Marsalis have Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited

    (D) Do you remember the answer to the question, "Why did Marsalis have no recording contract at the time the passage was written?"

    Perhaps not. If you do not recall the answer to this question, we recommend that you table this answer choice and look at the next one rather than sink time into reviewing the passage for an answer.

    If you eventually determine you need to review the passage, you can locate the author's discussion of Marsalis's record contract (perhaps using the CTRL/Command + F search function) in the second paragraph. The author never clarifies why Marsalis doesn't have a record contract.

    Some test-takers may think Marsalis lacks a record contract because record companies have stopped investing in contemporary jazz artists. However, that's not entirely accurate. The passage says that record companies have stopped investing in new, young jazz artists (P2, S5; P4, S3; P5, S2). However, Marsalis had already been around for two decades when this passage was written (P1, S1), so Marsalis is not a "new" jazz artist.

  5. E
    What is a factor Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E matches the stem

    (E) Do you remember the answer to the question, "What is a factor that contributed to the shift by record companies toward reissuing vintage jazz recordings?"

    Almost certainly! After all, the main point we anticipated is, "By championing an appreciation for jazz traditions amongst his followers, Wynton Marsalis has ironically helped record companies realize that they should exclusively re-release old jazz albums rather than promote modern artists." So, the main point provides an answer to this question — Wynton Marsalis's advocacy for jazz traditions and jazz masters was a factor that contributed to record companies' decision to reissue old jazz records. Indeed, the text also provides this answer (P4, S3-4), so we can be confident (E) is correct.

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A 27%
  2. B 1%
  3. C 1%
  4. D 5%
  5. E Credited 66%

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