PrepTest 130, Section 2, Question 25
Passage A In music, a certain complexity of(472 more words not shown)
Passage A(227 more words not shown)
Passage B(253 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(18 more words not shown)
- AThe musical traditions(15 more words not shown)
- BThe rhythmic structure(21 more words not shown)
- CMany people find(13 more words not shown)
- DThe sudden interruption(18 more words not shown)
- ESome of the(20 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
A's proposed explanation is that continuous, rhythmic sound can relax us because steady background noise suggests safety. To weaken that explanation, I'd look for a steady, rhythmic sound that makes people uneasy instead. That would separate the feature supposed to produce relaxation from the predicted response.
Working the answers
- A
Different cultures using different rhythmic complexities doesn't tell us whether continuous sound is relaxing. It doesn't test the proposed connection.
- B
This explains part of a language's rhythmic structure. It gives us no evidence about whether a steady sound makes listeners feel safe or relaxed.
- CCorrect
A rocking chair supplies the steady, rhythmic sound, but many people find it unnerving. That's the opposite response from the one A's explanation leads us to expect. One kind of counterexample needn't prove that continuous sounds never relax anyone; it still weakens the proposed explanation.
- D
Interrupting a melody can make it seem less coherent. But that doesn't show how the interruption affects relaxation, much less show a continuous sound producing an unexpectedly disturbing response.
- E
Simpler compositions being admired doesn't test whether continuity explains relaxation. Simplicity and continuity are different features, and admiration isn't the same as feeling relaxed.
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