PrepTest 123, Section 4, Question 9
The two passages discuss recent scientific research on(479 more words not shown)
Passage A(208 more words not shown)
Passage B(258 more words not shown)
Both passages were written primarily(10 more words not shown)
- AWhat evolutionary advantage(8 more words not shown)
- BWhy do human(13 more words not shown)
- CWhat are the(9 more words not shown)
- DDo the human(14 more words not shown)
- EWhy are most(12 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
We already mapped the two explanations while reading. A connects music's development to language; B argues that musical interactions helped mothers and infants bond, giving the capacity an important use of its own. The accounts differ, but both explain why humans have musical capacity.
What we’re looking for
The question asks what both texts were primarily written to answer. Look for that shared question—where did musical capacity come from?—rather than a piece of evidence or a concern important to just one account.
Working the answers
- A
Larger brains are part of both explanations, but explaining their evolutionary advantage isn't the goal. Brain growth helps the authors explain the development of musical capacity.
- B
Mother–infant bonding is central to B, but A never addresses it. This cannot be the question both texts were written to answer.
- CCorrect
This asks the question behind both explanations we mapped. A proposes that music evolved alongside language; B connects its origins to interactions that supported maternal care. Different answers to that question don't prevent it from being their shared purpose.
- D
The shared neurological processing of music and language is evidence in A's account. B doesn't compare the neurological systems behind those two abilities.
- E
A discusses greater proficiency in language to help explain why language, rather than music, was the primary function shaped by natural selection. B doesn't address that difference in skill.
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