#15 - Global Reference, Must Be True

[Administrator]

Please post your questions below!

[Lukelee]

A; inherently wrong
B; emotional power only in A
C;should-too strong
E; all other irrelevant

[Malila Robinson]

Hi Lukelee,
Are you asking if your reasoning is correct for those answer choices?
-Malila

[fashionlaw]

can we explain why A is wrong? I'm having trouble understanding what A really means by is music inherent?
- bre

[Claire Horan]

When you review questions you've gotten wrong, I recommend putting most of your attention on why the right answer is right. Once you understand why the right answer is right, then consider why the answer choice you chose was incorrect.

Both passages mention opera, and both discuss how important words are to an opera: Passage A claims that operas subordinate words to music and are "largely independent of words", while Passage B argues that the words and music in an opera are "as united as hydrogen and oxygen."

When you are working on this type of question, test whether each passage actually answers the question by finding specific lines. Test answer choice A that way. In answer choice A, the word "inherently" means something like "by its nature," but don't let unfamiliar vocabulary bog you down. Even if you consider the question without the word "inherently," you will likely still be able to evaluate the answer choice. Passage A answers that question (Passage A claims that music is more expressive than words), but Passage B does not really address this question at all--in fact, it states that the mediums should should really be considered "in isolation." Answer choice A, then, cannot be the correct answer.

Good luck with your studies! I hope this explanation helps!

[gwlsathelp]

Why isn't this considered a Main Point question? (I know MP falls under MBT)

[Adam Tyson]

Because it does not ask for the main point of either passage, gwlsathelp, but only for some question that they both attempt to answer. That question COULD be at the heart of both passages, but it doesn't need to be. It could be some minor or supporting issue, as long as both passages attempt to answer it.

The LSAT loves to ask us about minor, insignificant details in the passages! That throws off a lot of students, who make the false assumption that any question asked must be about something important in the overall scheme of the passage. A broad question like "which of the following can be properly inferred based upon the information in the passage?" will often be answered with some minor detail that the reader has mostly forgotten, perhaps because it was mentioned early in the passage and never brought up again.

If they were asking just about the main point, they would have to be more explicit about it, like "both passages are primarily concerned with answering which of the following questions?" Without that emphasis on "primarily concerned," the correct answer could be about anything at all!