Q17 - It is the mark of a superior

[Daniella.owusu]

Wow!! I am really struggling to answer this question. When I took this timed, I originally chose A through process of elimination. But, after doing it untimed, I chose the correct answer, D. I can see tht D is the best choice because A is out of scope. But I can't explain to myself why D is correct, besides doing POE.

Can someone please help me out with this question?

[maryadkins]

First of all, I also just struggled with this question because it's bizarre-o. That's what we get for digging all the way back to prep test 1 (good for you)!

So, this odd little thing is about how a conductor gets the authority to demand the orchestra rehearse more. Our core is:

have to earn authority by getting orch. to respect your current vision-->
authority to demand more practice is something that can't be just claimed

(D) tells us that for this to make sense, the orchestra has to be able to appreciate the interpretation even though they need to practice harder to be good at it. Otherwise, the orchestra would never be able to appreciate the conductor's vision, and so by it's terms, he/she would never be able to insist on more practice.

Process of elimination is definitely your friend here.

Hope this helps!

More recent tests are more useful, by the way, they're closer to what you'll see on test day.

[Jessica_x_1028]

How about c?

It is wrong because "additional rehearsals" is not equal to "intensified rehearsals"?

[ohthatpatrick]

Presupposes = Assumes

So this is a Necessary Assumption question. In Necessary Assumption questions, you can't accuse the author of assuming something more extreme than what she actually committed herself to.

Hence, one of the best cheat codes with Necessary Assumption is to look out for extreme language.

(A) for EVERY orchestra they devise different interpretations?

(B) NEVER satisfied even by a TOP orchestra?

(C) They're ALWAYS ready to put in more work?

If you negate this, you're saying
"At least one time, a top orchestra was not willing to put in additional work even when the conductor considered it necessary".

This doesn't hurt the author's argument at all.

First of all, this answer doesn't specify we're dealing with a "superior conductor". The author would happily agree to the negation of (C). She would say, "Of course! When a mediocre conductor insists extra rehearsal is necessary, a top orchestra might not agree and not be ready to put in additional work."

Even with a top conductor, the author never made it sound like a guarantee that the top orchestra would ALWAYS agree to do the extra work.

Her specific point is that a top conductor can't just CLAIM "we need more rehearsals" (the idea being that simply claiming it wouldn't impel the orchestra to do the extra practice).

The top conductor gets the orchestra to believe in the interpretation the conductor is pursuing (with the idea being that once the orchestra believes in the interpretation, they will be self-motivated to put in the extra practice).