MCAT Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills Question 42: Answer and Explanation

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Test Information

Question: 42

4. The author's reference to a rock concert serves to indicate that:

  • A. rock music combines both highbrow and lowbrow culture.
  • B. music can serve political purposes.
  • C. culture includes musical expression.
  • D. popular artistic forms have not always been considered to be highly sophisticated.

Correct Answer: D

Explanation:

D This is an Inference question.

A: No. There is no indication rock music is both highbrow and lowbrow-on the contrary, the passage indicates that rock music has traditionally been considered lowbrow instead of highbrow.

B: No. Politics is not an issue in this paragraph. In addition, to the extent that the author discusses political motivations elsewhere in the passage, the issue is the political engagement of cultural critics, not of culture itself.

C: No. The point of the reference is not to show that culture includes music; an earlier reference to the symphony suggests that at least some forms of music are already seen as cultural expression. Furthermore, the point being made is that cultural critics deny the distinction between high (the symphony) and low (the rock concert) culture.

D: Yes. In paragraph 4, the author writes that "cultural studies denies the separation of 'high' and 'low' or elite and popular culture … Being a 'cultured' person used to mean being acquainted with 'highbrow' art and intellectual pursuits. But isn't culture also to be found at a rock concert?" The change cultural studies has created from what culture "used to mean" has been to include forms (such as the rock concert) that were once considered not to be elite, intellectual, highbrow, or highly sophisticated.

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