This question stem asks you to identify the one answer that CANNOT BE TRUE (must be false) in light of the claims in the stimulus.
Answer choice (D) cannot be true given the following statements from the stimulus: you are told that European music "is a sophisticated achievement" because "over time the original function of the music" stopped being "its defining force." The author of the stimulus believes that music that can be stand independently of its original function is sophisticated.
Answer choice (D) says that "the most sophisticated music" is the kind that "is unintelligible when it is presented independently of its original function." This is at odds with the claims set out in the stimulus.
Hope this helps! Please let us know if you have any additional questions.
Maria-FoncecaSeptember 15, 2018
Hi, after reading your explanation below, I still find it confusing. Did you picked answer choice D just because it says "is unintelligible "? Is that what makes a difference?
Thanks
Maria-FoncecaSeptember 15, 2018
Ignore my question, I figured it out.
Veda-BhadharlaJuly 20, 2020
I am still finding this a little confusing. Even if the author is saying that music that can stand on its own without context is sophisticated, why does it mean that music that "is unintelligible when it is presented independently of its original function." can't be the most sophisticated? I don't see where in the stimulus that it says only the kind of music that the author talks about is sophisticated, so couldn't that still leave room for a different kind to be more sophisticated?
JerryYuJanuary 8, 2022
I have the same question as Veda did here. The difference between sophisticated music and the most sophisticated one confuses me very much, for European music can be "sophisticated" but unsupported as to "the most sophisticated music" by the stimulus.
Jay-EtterJanuary 30, 2022
Hi @JerryYu, I agree with you that the "most" makes it much trickier. I think we could reach the answer D through the process of elimination. A, B, C, and E are all clearly wrong. However, I do think we can figure out how D is right even taking into account the issue with "most".
In the stimulus, it says the reason European music is so sophisticated is because it is intelligible even when it is presented outside of the original function. In other words, maintaining intelligibility outside of function is part of what makes European music so sophisticated. But if that's true, then how could D say that the most sophisticated music tends to be music that is UNintelligible outside of its original function. This would be in conflict with the relationship between sophistication and intelligibility that the stimulus has told us.
