OG 12 - 122

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OG 12 - 122

by neha.patni » Thu Jul 29, 2010 10:19 am
The spacing of the four holes on a fragment of a bone flute 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.

OA E
Source: — Critical Reasoning |

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by outreach » Thu Jul 29, 2010 11:53 am
Argument : Musicologists hypothesize that the 7-note musical scale used in modern music is adapted since Renaissance.Though, the diatones capable of playing upto 6-note were in use some several thousand years ago.

Strengthen : If the primitive people had knowledge about the 7-note musical scale, they'd have used it in their musical instruments

Even though the cave-bear bone was long enough to contain several holes for playing a complete musical scale, the neanderthals used only four.Hence, they didn't have knowledge of playing beyond the sixth-note
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