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- Tue Jan 20, 2009 12:00 am
#73792
Complete Question Explanation
The correct answer choice is D.
Since most comparative reading passages ask at least a question or two about what the two authors would agree or disagree about, it is to your advantage to identify specific points of agreement or disagreement between the two passages as you give them a first read. In lines 25-26 of passage A, the author takes the quite strong position that music "had little adaptive value of its own, and most likely developed on the coattails of language." In lines 57-62 of passage B, the author takes a directly opposing position that "the emotional bonds created in the premusical mother-infant interactions we observe in Homo sapiens today—behavior whose neurological basis essentially constitutes the capacity to make and enjoy music—would have conferred considerable evolutionary advantage." The test-makers do put the burden on you to see that "evolutionary advantage" in passage B is a form of "adaptive value." Our prephrase is thus that the authors disagree on the adaptive value of music.
Answer choice (A): The relationship between brain size and time of birth is not discussed in passage A. Since we do not know passage A's position on answer choice A, we cannot say whether the two authors disagree about the answer choice.
Answer choice (B): The neurological processing of music and language is not discussed in passage B. Since we do not know passage B's position on answer choice B, we cannot say whether the two authors disagree about the answer choice.
Answer choice (C): Both authors agree that brain size increased during the course of human evolution, with the author of passage A stating in lines 20-21 that "brain size increased over the course of hominid evolution," and the author of passage B stating in lines 51-52 that "n the course of hominid evolution, brain size increased rapidly." But, we do not know for sure whether the author of passage A would commit to saying that brain size increased "rapidly" during such evolution. So we cannot be sure whether the authors would agree or disagree about answer choice C.
Answer choice (D): This is the correct answer choice. This answer fits our prephrase and also satisfies the Agree-Disagree Test. The author of passage A disagrees with this answer choice (see lines 25-26), whereas the author of passage B agrees with this answer choice (see lines 57-62).
Answer choice (E): Although passage B would agree with answer choice E, as evidenced by passage B's second paragraph, we do not know passage A's position on anything related to "mother-infant bonding," therefore we cannot know whether the authors would disagree about answer choice E.
The correct answer choice is D.
Since most comparative reading passages ask at least a question or two about what the two authors would agree or disagree about, it is to your advantage to identify specific points of agreement or disagreement between the two passages as you give them a first read. In lines 25-26 of passage A, the author takes the quite strong position that music "had little adaptive value of its own, and most likely developed on the coattails of language." In lines 57-62 of passage B, the author takes a directly opposing position that "the emotional bonds created in the premusical mother-infant interactions we observe in Homo sapiens today—behavior whose neurological basis essentially constitutes the capacity to make and enjoy music—would have conferred considerable evolutionary advantage." The test-makers do put the burden on you to see that "evolutionary advantage" in passage B is a form of "adaptive value." Our prephrase is thus that the authors disagree on the adaptive value of music.
Answer choice (A): The relationship between brain size and time of birth is not discussed in passage A. Since we do not know passage A's position on answer choice A, we cannot say whether the two authors disagree about the answer choice.
Answer choice (B): The neurological processing of music and language is not discussed in passage B. Since we do not know passage B's position on answer choice B, we cannot say whether the two authors disagree about the answer choice.
Answer choice (C): Both authors agree that brain size increased during the course of human evolution, with the author of passage A stating in lines 20-21 that "brain size increased over the course of hominid evolution," and the author of passage B stating in lines 51-52 that "n the course of hominid evolution, brain size increased rapidly." But, we do not know for sure whether the author of passage A would commit to saying that brain size increased "rapidly" during such evolution. So we cannot be sure whether the authors would agree or disagree about answer choice C.
Answer choice (D): This is the correct answer choice. This answer fits our prephrase and also satisfies the Agree-Disagree Test. The author of passage A disagrees with this answer choice (see lines 25-26), whereas the author of passage B agrees with this answer choice (see lines 57-62).
Answer choice (E): Although passage B would agree with answer choice E, as evidenced by passage B's second paragraph, we do not know passage A's position on anything related to "mother-infant bonding," therefore we cannot know whether the authors would disagree about answer choice E.
Jeremy Press
LSAT Instructor and law school admissions consultant
Follow me on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/JeremyLSAT
LSAT Instructor and law school admissions consultant
Follow me on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/JeremyLSAT