PrepTest 112, Section 3, Question 25
Anthropologist: All music is based on a few(70 more words not shown)
The anthropologist's argument is most(10 more words not shown)
- Aconsider the possibility(12 more words not shown)
- Bexplain how innate(6 more words not shown)
- Cexplain the existence(11 more words not shown)
- Dconsider that innate(14 more words not shown)
- Econsider whether any(12 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
How does a widespread musical preference tell us where that preference came from?
We don't need a technical definition of the scales to follow the argument. Diatonic scales are the kind said to dominate; nondiatonic scales are the alternatives. The anthropologist reasons that very different social systems should produce a diverse mixture if social conditioning explains popularity. Since one kind dominates, the author credits only innate dispositions—tendencies people have by nature.
My initial question is whether different societies might share an older musical tradition. A preference could have spread from a common starting point rather than developed separately in every society. That is a hypothetical possibility, not a claim about actual musical history. It makes me want more support for the proposed explanation of worldwide popularity.
What we’re looking for
The flaw question asks what the author failed to consider. I'd initially look for another way to explain the widespread preference. But keep the conclusion's “only” in view: the author isn't merely saying innate tendencies play a role. The claim excludes any other contribution.
Working the answers
- A
The passage says diatonic scales dominate most of the world's music, not that everyone prefers them. Some people preferring the alternatives can fit that general pattern. Their existence doesn't by itself explain or challenge the stated cause of the broad popularity.
- B
The conclusion explains the popularity of diatonic music. It doesn't offer a theory of how innate dispositions increase appreciation of nondiatonic music. Failing to explain a different preference isn't the gap in this proposed explanation.
- C
Why two kinds of scale exist is different from why one is more popular. The argument can take their existence as given and discuss their relative popularity. It doesn't need an account of their invention to address the question it has chosen.
- DCorrect
What if innate dispositions and social conditioning both matter? Perhaps people have a natural tendency that favors certain sounds, while social experience reinforces or develops that tendency. A common natural influence could coexist with a social contribution.
This is a different route from my initial shared-tradition idea. D doesn't need to replace nature with nurture. It challenges the claim that nature is the only cause. Even if social differences alone don't explain the worldwide pattern, it doesn't follow that social conditioning contributes nothing alongside innate dispositions.
- E
The preferences of nonhuman animals don't settle why one type of scale dominates human music. We would need an additional connection between those animals' responses and the human pattern. E supplies neither that connection nor a reason to exclude social conditioning from the explanation.
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