#16 - Concept Reference, Must Be True

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation

The correct answer choice is (B).

Answer choice (A):

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

Answer choice (C):

Answer choice (D):

Answer choice (E):


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

[lsatstudying11]

Hello!

I picked B, and can see how that is the correct answer, but I had a question about E. Is E incorrect because the speed at which the music played was a factor of the applause, and therefore how the music was conducted would not really matter in this context? I guess technically how something is conducted can definitely impact the speed at which the music is played, but is the key to this question and to eliminating E recognizing that the passage is stressing the idea that, in this case, what determines symphonies being played more slowly is how/when the audience applauds? Thanks in advance!

[KelseyWoods]

Hi lsatstudying11!

Remember that the vast majority of questions in the Reading Comprehension section are some form of Must Be True questions and, therefore, the correct answers must be directly supported by the statements in the passage. For this question about the final movements of symphonies by Mozart and Beethoven, we can go back to the last paragraph where the author discusses these final movements. There, the author tells us that the reason that the last movement was performed more slowly was because audiences applauded after each movement. This is essentially a causal argument. The author says that applauding after each movement caused the musicians to play the final movement more slowly. Thus, the author is suggesting that if modern audiences applauded after each movement, then in modern performances the final movements in these symphonies would also likely be slower. The author does not attribute the the slower final movements to the method of conducting and, thus, the author does not suggest that conducting the symphonies in the same manner as Mozart and Beethoven would result in slower final movements.

Hope this helps!

Best,
Kelsey

[crispycrispr]

Hi,

Can someone explain why the answer is (B), but not (C)? I'm confused because the passage says faster symphonies and slower last movement is because audience applause at the end of each movement. This sentence made me think that symphonies and movement are the same thing ...

Is (C) an opposite answer? I feel like I might be overthinking this. Is it simply: If we want slower last movement, we want audience to applause at the end of each movement, since this is what the author says causes there to be slower last movement (and faster symphonies)? I think I might have been distracted & confused by the "faster symphonies" portion of the passage?

[Poonam Agrawal]

Hi crispycrispr!

To really understand the difference between answer choice (B) and answer choice (C), it is imperative to understand lines 47-56 in the passage.

The author of the passage explains that in the past, the early movements of the symphony were played faster than the last movement of the symphony. This was because the audience would clap at the end of each movement.

Now, audiences clap only at the end of the entire symphony (not after each movement), which forces musicians to put in extra brilliance in the last movement and not use the standard slow last movement approach. Therefore, the author suggests that the final movements of the symphonies would be played more slowly today if audiences went back to clapping at the end of each movement, and not just at the end of the entire symphony. This is answer choice (B).

[crispycrispr]

Hi crispycrispr!

To really understand the difference between answer choice (B) and answer choice (C), it is imperative to understand lines 47-56 in the passage.

The author of the passage explains that in the past, the early movements of the symphony were played faster than the last movement of the symphony. This was because the audience would clap at the end of each movement.

Now, audiences clap only at the end of the entire symphony (not after each movement), which forces musicians to put in extra brilliance in the last movement and not use the standard slow last movement approach. Therefore, the author suggests that the final movements of the symphonies would be played more slowly today if audiences went back to clapping at the end of each movement, and not just at the end of the entire symphony. This is answer choice (B).

I don't quite understand your explanation ... I'm re-reading the passage, but it doesn't compare between symphonies and movements. It just says that symphonies before are played faster than today, and final movements before are played slower than today. I get that this is because audience applauded at the end of each movement. So, my understanding is: to have slower final movements played, it's just simply re-enact what happened in the old days when slower movements were played--audience applauding at the end of each movement.

Your explanation makes me wonder: Are symphonies "the entire work"? It seems like symphonies aren't what's relevant to this question, so even if I don't know what symphonies are, I could still get this question right just by focusing on "slower final movements" ...?

[Robert Carroll]

crispy,

I'm not a musician myself, but I don't have to be - line 48 of the passage tells us that movements are the sections of the symphonies. So the symphony is the whole and the movements are parts. I think that clarification of the relation between the two should make clear why Poonam's explanation above works, but let me know if it's still troublesome!

Robert Carroll