GS-2 Verbal Reasoning Question 27

[bruntee]

Just wanted to know why is the answer B and not C. I read the explanation but the way I interpreted the passage it was stating that English were more interested in news about other things that had nothing to do with music. That is they would rather do things like follow football

[admin]

Your reasoning is correct. But it seems that your correct reasoning led you to the incorrect answer.

You said that "the way I interpreted the passage it was stating that English were more interested in news about other things that had nothing to do with music. That is they would rather do things like follow football". You are correct in your interpretation.

But the question asked: "The passage suggests that the English might be less interested than Germans, in news concerning:"

Notice the use of the word LESS. Answer choice C is something the English would like (your correct interpretation) but that's why it's the wrong answer. Answer choice B is what they would like least among the answer choices.

Using the strikeout feature in questions like this can help identify the correct answer by grouping the wrong answers together.

[Guest]

I had hard time picking this one too.
If they are not interested in music then why should they care about new music entertainments?

[admin]

This is a tough question particularly because B must be seen as the best answer, not necessarily the only consideration.

Nonetheless, here are the arguments for why the author suggests that the English would relatively be more interested in musical entertainment as compared to answer choice B:

P1, S2, the author suggests that to some degree, the English enjoy musical entertainment: "They like singing, most of them, either making a noise themselves or listening to others."

P1, S6: ". . . the bulk of the population does not really care how music gets along provided that on occasion it can obtain what it wants for ceremonial occasions, for occasional polite entertainment . . ."

P2, S4: "Perhaps five percent are definitely insusceptible to music... The rest are capable of having their interest, and perhaps ultimately their love, aroused for the art."

I hope that helps.

[admin]

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