LSAT 130 | Section 1 | Logical Reasoning: Q10

LR Question 10 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Music historian: Some critics lament the fact that impoverished

QUESTION TYPE: Most Strongly Supported

FACTS: Bebop recordings were shorter than their live shows.

This was because postwar recording studios were poor.

The concise recordings were beautiful artistic works in their own right.

These were different from the live recordings.

The compact recordings changed bebop musicians’ live playing style. The next generation of bebop artists lacked this.

ANALYSIS: I had no specific prephrase. I just thought: “The constraints produced some nice stuff.”

This matches the right answer. Trying to produce a more specific prephrase is dangerous. For example, suppose you thought “the constraints made bebop better.” That’s not supported. The constraints had some benefits, but maybe bebop would have been good in other ways without the constraints. We can never know.

___________

1. This isn’t supported. We know that the recorded works were good, and different from live works. But that doesn’t mean all live recordings are bad!
2. CORRECT. This seems supported. The constraints of the recording studios forced bebop musicians to create beautifully compact studio works, and this influenced their playing style.
3. This is insane. It would mean that a horrendous 50 second recording will always be better than a 15 minute masterpiece.
4. This isn’t supported. We know the later generation lacked conciseness, but they may have been good in other ways.
5. This is crazy. What if a musician just wants to record a short solo? They’d probably do it. The stimulus has no support for this answer.