PrepTest 158, Section 2, Question 1
Many people who simply enjoy listening to popular(62 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(9 more words not shown)
- APopular music accounts(6 more words not shown)
- BPopular music's entertainment(4 more words not shown)
- CPopular music is(10 more words not shown)
- DPopular music has(5 more words not shown)
- EPopular music has(7 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
A song can be fun to listen to and still be trying to tell us something.
That's the distinction the author wants us to notice. Some listeners enjoy popular music without realizing that people have also used it to communicate religious or political messages. I can see why a social movement would do that. A song might win over someone who doesn't belong to the movement. It might also encourage the people who already belong and give them a way to express their connection to one another.
What we’re looking for
Now we're asked for the main conclusion. Try putting the author's point into one ordinary sentence before looking at the answers: popular music can carry messages as well as entertain. The discussion of social movements gives reasons to believe that point. We want the point itself, even if an answer phrases it differently.
Working the answers
- A
Music might help a movement, but the author doesn't say it accounts for the movement's success. A movement could use songs and still fail. This answer replaces the claim about music's uses with a stronger claim about its results.
- B
The author says some listeners overlook the religious and political uses of music. That doesn't mean people have placed too much importance on entertainment. Enjoying a song and recognizing its other purposes can go together.
- C
Most effective compared with what? Speeches, meetings, books? The argument never ranks these methods. Being able to help convert people is enough to explain why movements use music; it doesn't establish that music works better than every alternative.
- DCorrect
Religious and political communication are purposes other than entertainment. D captures the opening point in broader words. The examples of persuading outsiders and encouraging participants help explain why music has been used for those purposes.
- E
Raising morale could involve an emotional effect, but the author's main point isn't a claim about a profound impact on listeners. It's a claim about what music is used to do. E leaves out that distinction and overstates the emotional claim.
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