#15 - Specific Reference, Must Be True, Purpose/Function

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation

The correct answer choice is (D).

Answer choice (A):

Answer choice (B):

Answer choice (C):

Answer choice (D): This is the correct answer choice.

Answer choice (E):


This explanation is still in progress. Please post any questions below!

[andriana.caban]

Hi!

I originally chose (C).

Going back to the stimulus, the author states "Beethoven's first piano concert, there is a wrong note...[when it should] be a high F-sharp". I thought that we needed to tie this statement into the bigger picture of what the author was discussing. In this regard, is (c) incorrect because "commonly" is too strong? To me, (c) is true and captures what author meant to do in bringing up Beethoven's first piano concerto.

But, when reading (d), I can also see why this is the correct answer. The end of the paragraph in which the author brings up Beethoven's first piano concerto states that "Beethoven would probably be frustrated playing the "wrong note".

Can someone explain why my reasoning in choosing (c) was incorrect? Is my analysis of why (D) is the correct answer valid?

Thanks!

[KelseyWoods]

Hi Andriana!

To answer a Purpose question like this, think about the overall purpose of that paragraph. The first sentence tells us that early music advocates assume that composers write only for the instruments available to them but then the author goes on to suggest that this assumption is mistaken because evidence suggests that composers imagined notes that could not be played on available instruments as part of their compositions. The example of Beethoven's first concerto is used as part of that "evidence" to illustrate that composers included notes in their compositions which could not be played on the instruments they have available to them.

Answer choice (C) is incorrect because nothing in the paragraph refers to early music advocates "performing" anything. The early music advocates in this paragraph are the ones who made the incorrect assumption that composers wrote only for available instruments. They are not performers of music. The paragraph is also not about "revisions" to music made years after it was originally composed.

Answer choice (D) is correct because it accurately describes that the example of Beethoven's first piano concerto is used to illustrate that composers sometimes wrote music with notes that could not be played on available instruments.

Hope this helps!

Best,
Kelsey