Q25 - One reason why European Music

[netkorea06]

what is this question asking for? How are the answer choice (A) and (B) compatible to the passage?

[ManhattanPrepLSAT1]

Compatible simply means "could be true" or "consistent with." It does not, however, mean must be true.

So, if the stimulus had said

All teachers impact children in a positive way. Anyone who impacts children in a positive way is a benefit to society.

Now, we can infer that all teachers benefit society. But also, those statements are consistent with a lot other information. For example...

If someone is not a teacher, then that person does not benefit society.

If someone benefits society, then that person is a teacher.

Children who play sports do better in school.

Okay, so the last one seems out of left field, but it doesn't matter. The last one is still consistent with the information presented in my hypothetical stimulus.

To the question!

We are presented with the following assertions.

1. A reason why European music is so influential and why it is a sophisticated achievement is that over time the original function of the music became an aspect of its style, not its defining force.
2. Each composition has so much internal coherence that the music ultimately depends on nothing but itself.

We are looking for an answer choice that contradicts one of those pieces of information or combination thereof. Fortunately, it's pretty hard to combine those statements, so we'll probably just need to contradict one of them.

(A) could be true. We don't know anything about African music.
(B) could be true. We know about one reason why European music has had such a strong influence. We don't know, however, that that is the only reason.
(C) could be true. We don't know anything about Chinese music.
(D) cannot be true. This contradicts the first statement. We know that the the most sophisticated music is music that is intelligible when it is presented independently from its original function.
(E) could be true. This answer choice discusses "works of art." If music is not art, then this statement could be true.

If you're trying to categorize this by question type, this question is asking you the same thing as "must be false" or "could be true EXCEPT."

Does this clear things up a bit? Let me know if you'd like any further explanation here.

[ebrickm2]

I take issue with D, the stimulus only states that it is a "sophisticated achievement". Perhaps the conditions that gave rise to its state are sufficient for it to be sophisticated, but we are not told that they are necessarily the deterministic features for a sophisticated piece. It could very well be the case that unintelligible music is the most sophisticated (it may even tend to be the case, as the answer choice suggests).

So, again, I call BS on the LSAT writers.

[ManhattanPrepLSAT1]

I feel you on this one. I agree that the question isn't phrased as clearly as we would like.

It does imply in the stimulus that sophisticated music is music that can stand independently of it's function (dance music without dance, sacred music independent of religious worship).

Answer choice (D) says that sophisticated music is unintelligible when presented independent of it's original function.

These two statements aren't compatible with each other. Does that make this any clearer or do you still take issue with this answer choice? I think you're level of analysis will be dangerous on this test. You probably find that you're talking yourself out of the correct answer frequently... Give them a bit room to be creative!

[Shiggins]

Having issues with the answer choices in this one and I would say I was overall confused on this question.

[ManhattanPrepLSAT1]

We're looking for an answer choice that is NOT compatible with the information presented in the stimulus. Being "compatible" is similar to being "consistent." If we need an answer choice that is inconsistent with the stimulus that puts us on a Must be False question.

The reason why European music is a sophisticated achievement is that the music music could stand independent of the music's original function. This is achieved because of the internal coherence that the music possesses.

So now let's look at the correct answer. Answer choice (D) says that unintelligible music (music that is internally inconsistent) is the most sophisticated music. That goes against the stimulus that says that the reason why European music is so sophisticated is that it is internally consistent.

Answer choices (A), (B), and (C) are usually the most easily eliminated.

(A) is consistent with the stimulus since the stimulus does not compare the impact of African and European musical traditions.
(B) is consistent with the stimulus since the stimulus does not preclude other reasons for the global influence of European music.
(C) is simply not addressed and so is consistent with the stimulus.
(E) is the answer choice many students have difficulty eliminating but notice the weakness of the answer choice. It's very possible that "some works of art" other than European music lose their appeal when presented independently of their original function. What makes European music so sophisticated is that it could stand independently of their original function, but that doesn't mean that other forms of art will achieve the same results.

Here's a general tip on Must be False questions. Just like weakness is a positive characteristic of Must be True questions, strength is a positive characteristic of correct answers on Must be False questions. Answer choices that are weak, like answer choice (E), are easier to be consistent with the stimulus.

Does that answer your question?

[panman36]

I take issue with D, the stimulus only states that it is a "sophisticated achievement". Perhaps the conditions that gave rise to its state are sufficient for it to be sophisticated, but we are not told that they are necessarily the deterministic features for a sophisticated piece. It could very well be the case that unintelligible music is the most sophisticated (it may even tend to be the case, as the answer choice suggests).

So, again, I call BS on the LSAT writers.

I came to this thread for this very reason. I thought music standing independent of its original function could be sufficient for some degree of sophistication, but that the most sophisticated music could require being unintelligible in this context.

[ibrahim.elshamy]

That answer choice (D) just doesn't seem that strong -- I suppose its the one that makes the most sense of the choices, but I felt that it was a trick choice by saying:

"Music that is [...] TENDS TO BE the most sophisticated music"

To me, that still seems compatible with the statement given about European music. Even if music generally tends to be one way, this could have been part of the exceptional minority category. Is this way of seeing the problem just way off base?

[ManhattanPrepLSAT1]

To me, that still seems compatible with the statement given about European music. Even if music generally tends to be one way, this could have been part of the exceptional minority category. Is this way of seeing the problem just way off base?

You're definitely not way off base. I think I would make my selection of answer choice (D) through process of elimination thinking it's not a great answer, but better than the others. But coming back to review it, I would agree that the answer choice is not compatible with answer choice (D). I see the stimulus as containing an argument. It says that the reason why European music is a sophisticated achievement is that the music could stand independent of the function. This is assumes that sophisticated music is independent of it's original function. Answer choice (D) suggests that sophisticated music is dependent on it's original function.

But your point about one outlier not being a counterexample to a claim about tendencies is important. Had the stimulus not bridged the two ideas so strongly, then answer choice (D) could have presented a consistent claim.

Hope that helps!

[jimmy902o]

So I chose E for this question and the main reason is that I did not get the correct understanding of the word "unintelligible"

matt- you say that to be unintelligible is to be inconsistent but im not sure sure that true. a quick dictionary check defines the word to mean that it cannot be understood. for me- it is a HUGE assumption to think that just because its cant be understood means that its internally inconsistent maybe its the case that the singer mumbles so the words cannot be heard.

i interpreted this AC to actually strengthen the argument due to the fact that it fully stands on it on makes it sophisticated. im not sure what im missing here please help be understand more

[Mab6q]

From what we know about the nature of cause and effect on the LSAT, if the stimulus had said "the reason" instead of "one of the reasons", would B be false. Thank you.

[ganbayou]

Compatible simply means "could be true" or "consistent with." It does not, however, mean must be true.

So, if the stimulus had said

All teachers impact children in a positive way. Anyone who impacts children in a positive way is a benefit to society.

Now, we can infer that all teachers benefit society. But also, those statements are consistent with a lot other information. For example...

If someone is not a teacher, then that person does not benefit society.

If someone benefits society, then that person is a teacher.

Children who play sports do better in school.

Okay, so the last one seems out of left field, but it doesn't matter. The last one is still consistent with the information presented in my hypothetical stimulus.

To the question!

We are presented with the following assertions.

1. A reason why European music is so influential and why it is a sophisticated achievement is that over time the original function of the music became an aspect of its style, not its defining force.
2. Each composition has so much internal coherence that the music ultimately depends on nothing but itself.

We are looking for an answer choice that contradicts one of those pieces of information or combination thereof. Fortunately, it's pretty hard to combine those statements, so we'll probably just need to contradict one of them.

(A) could be true. We don't know anything about African music.
(B) could be true. We know about one reason why European music has had such a strong influence. We don't know, however, that that is the only reason.
(C) could be true. We don't know anything about Chinese music.
(D) cannot be true. This contradicts the first statement. We know that the the most sophisticated music is music that is intelligible when it is presented independently from its original function.
(E) could be true. This answer choice discusses "works of art." If music is not art, then this statement could be true.

If you're trying to categorize this by question type, this question is asking you the same thing as "must be false" or "could be true EXCEPT."

Does this clear things up a bit? Let me know if you'd like any further explanation here.

Do you mean D contradicts the second sentence combined with the first sentence? I'm not sure how D contradicts the first sentence alone...Or is the second sentence actually only providing an example of what is discussed in the first sentence?

Thank you

[maryadkins]

I would say (D) contradicts the first sentence on its own, without the second sentence, but the second sentence helps drive home the incompatibility by using the specific word (also used in (D)) "independent."

The first sentence says that a reason European music is sophisticated is because "the original function of the music" "gradually became an aspect of its style, not its defining force." (D) already conflicts with this idea even though the sentence itself doesn't use the word "independent," because (D) suggests that if music is separated from its original function, it is unintelligible—the opposite of what the first sentence is getting at. But the second sentence, by using the term "independent," drives this conflict home.

[jm.kahn]

Answer choice (D) says that sophisticated music is unintelligible when presented independent of it's original function.

But that's not what D says. D is: the most sophisticated music is unintelligible when presented independent of it's original function. There is a big difference.

Can an expert give a solid and convincing explanation of this difference?

I eliminated D due to this reason as this is a logical flaw to think that most extreme case of something has similar characteristics as its more normal case.

I take issue with D, the stimulus only states that it is a "sophisticated achievement". Perhaps the conditions that gave rise to its state are sufficient for it to be sophisticated, but we are not told that they are necessarily the deterministic features for a sophisticated piece. It could very well be the case that unintelligible music is the most sophisticated (it may even tend to be the case, as the answer choice suggests).

So, again, I call BS on the LSAT writers.