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- Fri Jan 21, 2011 12:00 am
#27186
Complete Question Explanation
Flaw in the Reasoning. The correct answer choice is (B)
Although not explicitly written out, the music critic’s conclusion is that Vierne’s works should be considered religious music. This is based on the fact that, even though Vierne’s works are apparently not based on familiar religious texts (like Handel’s works), hearing Vierne’s music in a particular setting invokes emotional feelings of divine inspiration. The flaw here is in the shifting definition of “religious.” The first usage of the word is in reference to source materials (“religious texts”), while the second, which the author uses to make his/her conclusion, is about religious/“divine” inspirations (listener’s emotional response). This is known as an uncertain use of a term.
Answer choice (A): The author never claims that all religious music is inspiring, but rather that Vierne’s music is religious because it seems to be divinely inspired (whereas previously “religious” meant taken from religious texts).
Answer choice (B): This is the correct answer choice. As discussed above, the author uses the notion of “religious” in two different ways in the stimulus.
Answer choice (C): Whether or not other organ music is divinely inspired is not a part of the author’s argument.
Answer choice (D): This tricky answer choice also represents an uncertain use of a term, but the term “symphonies” does not change meaning in the argument (although it is used twice, it means “musical compositions” both times).
Answer choice (E): We cannot know that the author believes all organ music to be religious. All we know is that the author believes Vierne’s works are religious.
Flaw in the Reasoning. The correct answer choice is (B)
Although not explicitly written out, the music critic’s conclusion is that Vierne’s works should be considered religious music. This is based on the fact that, even though Vierne’s works are apparently not based on familiar religious texts (like Handel’s works), hearing Vierne’s music in a particular setting invokes emotional feelings of divine inspiration. The flaw here is in the shifting definition of “religious.” The first usage of the word is in reference to source materials (“religious texts”), while the second, which the author uses to make his/her conclusion, is about religious/“divine” inspirations (listener’s emotional response). This is known as an uncertain use of a term.
Answer choice (A): The author never claims that all religious music is inspiring, but rather that Vierne’s music is religious because it seems to be divinely inspired (whereas previously “religious” meant taken from religious texts).
Answer choice (B): This is the correct answer choice. As discussed above, the author uses the notion of “religious” in two different ways in the stimulus.
Answer choice (C): Whether or not other organ music is divinely inspired is not a part of the author’s argument.
Answer choice (D): This tricky answer choice also represents an uncertain use of a term, but the term “symphonies” does not change meaning in the argument (although it is used twice, it means “musical compositions” both times).
Answer choice (E): We cannot know that the author believes all organ music to be religious. All we know is that the author believes Vierne’s works are religious.
It's just like the law in that regard, and like legal opinions too. That's part of what they are testing you on - your ability to sift through the confusion and get to the underlying meaning. Paraphrase anything that you find confusing, visualize anything that might be hard to understand solely by the words, play around with the stimulus to see if you can make sense of it another way. The only way to get there is practice, practice, practice. Try this as an untimed homework drill - go through 50 LR questions, and paraphrase every single one of them. Don't worry about the answers, just focus on the stimuli, and see if you can find a simpler, easier way to say what they said. This will be a great help for any Parallel Reasoning questions you might encounter later, because you will be focusing on the logical relationships and, in many cases, the abstract structures of the arguments.