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flute

by mehrasa » Fri Nov 25, 2011 12:48 am
The spacing of the four holes on a fragment of a bone fl ute excavated at a Neanderthal campsite is just what is
required to play the third through sixth notes of the diatonic scale-the seven-note musical scale used in much
of Western music since the Renaissance. Musicologists therefore hypothesize that the diatonic musical scale
was developed and used thousands of years before it was adopted by Western musicians.
Which of the following, if true, most strongly supports the hypothesis?
(A) Bone fl utes were probably the only musical instrument made by Neanderthals.
(B) No musical instrument that is known to have used a diatonic scale is of an earlier date than the fl ute found
at the Neanderthal campsite.
(C) The fl ute was made from a cave-bear bone and the campsite at which the fl ute fragment was excavated
was in a cave that also contained skeletal remains of cave bears.
(D) Flutes are the simplest wind instrument that can be constructed to allow playing a diatonic scale.
(E) The cave-bear leg bone used to make the Neanderthal fl ute would have been long enough to make a fl ute
capable of playing a complete diatonic scale.

[spoiler]OA:D...[/spoiler]. this fact that those flute was long enough to be used for complete diatonic music does not guarantee the Neanderthal played diatonic scale...they may use that to play diatonic or may not... .that is, the capability of long cave-bear bone flute does not mean the Neanderthal played diatonic with that...so it can not support the argument
what is ur idea?

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by ranjeet75 » Fri Nov 25, 2011 6:26 am
I think E should be the answer

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by VivianKerr » Fri Nov 25, 2011 10:28 am
Concl: diatonic scale used thousand of years earlier

Evid: bone hole spacing at Neanderthal camp, corresponds to 3rd - 6th notes

Assump: it isn't coincidence, the other notes in the diatonic scale were present too

Question: What strengthens the hypothesis?

Prediction: More EVIDENCE -- Anything that shows it isn't coincidence, or gives even more evidence as to the other notes.

A, C, and D are totally irrelevant. Let's examine B and D.

B -- no earlier diatonic scale instruments.
E -- bone could have all the other notes.

Just because B is true, does not mean the Neanderthal case it true. The answer is E.
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