PrepTest 142, Section 2, Question 9
Musicologist: Classification of a musical instrument depends on(45 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(10 more words not shown)
- AMusical instruments should(12 more words not shown)
- BMusical instruments should(11 more words not shown)
- CSome people classify(14 more words not shown)
- DThe piano should(12 more words not shown)
- EIt is correct(14 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
A piano has strings. Why call it percussion? The musicologist's answer is to look at what sets those strings vibrating: hammers strike them.
The opening rule classifies an instrument by the mechanical action that produces its music. The piano's hammers supply the action the musicologist uses to place it in the percussion category. The presence of strings is acknowledged, but the author doesn't treat that fact as decisive.
What we’re looking for
We might initially focus on the strings and wonder about the classification. For this question, we only need to identify the point the author is defending. The rule and the hammer explanation support the same specific conclusion: a piano should be classified as percussion rather than as a stringed instrument.
Working the answers
- A
This states the general classification rule. The musicologist uses that rule to answer a more specific question about the piano. If we ask, “Why classify the piano as percussion?” the rule is part of the answer, which makes it support for the conclusion rather than the conclusion itself.
- B
The passage doesn't argue for this general prohibition. It gives a positive rule based on mechanical action and applies that rule to a piano. B leaves out the specific classification the author wants us to accept and introduces a different claim about how instruments shouldn't be classified.
- C
The author considers the possible appeal of the piano's strings but doesn't establish that some people actually classify it as stringed. More importantly, the point is how the piano should be classified, not a report about other people's beliefs.
- D
This reverses the author's conclusion. The musicologist acknowledges the strings but argues for percussion. Mentioning a feature that might suggest another classification doesn't mean the author ultimately adopts that classification.
- ECorrect
This is the specific claim supported by the rest of the argument. Mechanical action determines classification, and hammers striking the strings provide the relevant action. Together those reasons support calling the piano a percussion instrument rather than a stringed instrument.
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