I have a question regarding question 14. I chose (E) as my answer because I understand that they both use different evidence to come to a conclusion, but I thought that they initially agreed to the same conclusion, which would be the cause of evolution. I did not pick (A) initially because I did not think they had "divergent conclusions.
If someone would be able to explain this to me, it would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance!
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- marokh9
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Re: Question 14
Thanks for submitting this question marokh9! For these overlap synthesis questions, it's critical to have a clear view of each passage as a whole as well as the big-picture relationship between the two of them!
Passage A is concerned primarily with the relationship between language and music. It begins by posing the question 'did they originate together or separately?' Paragraph 2 explores their similarities and differences. Paragraph 3 concludes by answering the original question (together!), but claims that language was the "the primary function natural selection operated on", and that music was a happy tangential accident.
Passage B is also concerned with the evolutionary development of music, but the first paragraph begins with the bold claim that music is "indispensable" to the mother-infant bond, and evolved as a result. The second paragraph describes the quasi-musical mechanics of the mother-infant bond. The third paragraph ponders what evolutionary use such mechanics would have, concluding that these premusical interactions protected the bond, therefore promoting the survival of the infant. Passage B thus concludes that musical ability conferred evolutionary advantage in and of itself.
Both passages are concerned with the evolutionary origins of music (see question 9), but ultimately disagree on the conclusion about those origins: Passage A believes music to be an accident resulting from the development of language, having no particular evolutionary benefit of its own, while Passage B believes musical ability was a direct evolutionary advantage. This answer lines up perfectly with (A).
Inappropriate Relationship Statuses
(B) Passage A does pose a question in the first sentence, but it provide its own answer by the third paragraph. Passage B never addresses the question of whether language and music developed separately or together.
(C) Passage A does pose a hypothesis regarding the evolutionary origins of music (on the coattails of language), but Passage B does not attempt to substantiate that with any evidence - Passage B never mentions the development of language.
(D) This fuzzy comparison is weak at best. How would you evaluate each author's strength of conviction precisely? Each have their hypothesis, and they both appear to believe that they are correct.
(E) The two passages absolutely use different evidence, but they do not support the same conclusion. Passage A believe that language was the driving evolutionary force that just happened to produce music, while Passage B believes music was its own independent driving evolutionary force.
Please let me know if that completely answers your question!
Passage A is concerned primarily with the relationship between language and music. It begins by posing the question 'did they originate together or separately?' Paragraph 2 explores their similarities and differences. Paragraph 3 concludes by answering the original question (together!), but claims that language was the "the primary function natural selection operated on", and that music was a happy tangential accident.
Passage B is also concerned with the evolutionary development of music, but the first paragraph begins with the bold claim that music is "indispensable" to the mother-infant bond, and evolved as a result. The second paragraph describes the quasi-musical mechanics of the mother-infant bond. The third paragraph ponders what evolutionary use such mechanics would have, concluding that these premusical interactions protected the bond, therefore promoting the survival of the infant. Passage B thus concludes that musical ability conferred evolutionary advantage in and of itself.
Both passages are concerned with the evolutionary origins of music (see question 9), but ultimately disagree on the conclusion about those origins: Passage A believes music to be an accident resulting from the development of language, having no particular evolutionary benefit of its own, while Passage B believes musical ability was a direct evolutionary advantage. This answer lines up perfectly with (A).
Inappropriate Relationship Statuses
(B) Passage A does pose a question in the first sentence, but it provide its own answer by the third paragraph. Passage B never addresses the question of whether language and music developed separately or together.
(C) Passage A does pose a hypothesis regarding the evolutionary origins of music (on the coattails of language), but Passage B does not attempt to substantiate that with any evidence - Passage B never mentions the development of language.
(D) This fuzzy comparison is weak at best. How would you evaluate each author's strength of conviction precisely? Each have their hypothesis, and they both appear to believe that they are correct.
(E) The two passages absolutely use different evidence, but they do not support the same conclusion. Passage A believe that language was the driving evolutionary force that just happened to produce music, while Passage B believes music was its own independent driving evolutionary force.
Please let me know if that completely answers your question!
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