Classical musical instruments are very complex and demand a lot of pra

A in my opinion.


Conclusion: strict discipline should be maintained to avoid wasting time when teaching children how to play such musical instruments..

Premise: learning the intricacies of such an instrument is very challenging and because of the concentration needed, most children will tire fairly quickly. Since this leads to a slow learning pace

Pre-thinking: Anything that tells us that discipline is not the way to be efficient (not wasting time) or the slow process does not hamper the learning process. Even if its slow-paced, the learning process is solid.

A matches the pre-thinking

Classical musical instruments are very complex and demand a lot of practice and theoretical knowledge to master. To a child, learning the intricacies of such an instrument is very challenging and because of the concentration needed, most children will tire fairly quickly. Since this leads to a slow learning pace, strict discipline should be maintained to avoid wasting time when teaching children how to play such musical instruments.

Which of the following, if true, calls the argument's conclusion into question?
argument's conclusion: strict discipline should be maintained --> to avoid wasting time. why? Otherwise it leads to slow learning pace.

How to weaken it?
Some option that can lead to quick learning even without strict discipline
or some option that is more efficient that strict discipline.


(A) The learning process, as proven by a recent brain study, is most efficient when the learner experiences a sense of enjoyment while learning, regardless of the progress being made.
A talks about efficiency. But not about time. A is a good option ini practical sense that once you are efficient you can learn quickly and can go for long term. But the argument highlights time that it would be slow if waste time in not concentrating when teaching to children.
Hence reject

(B) The theoretical and practical aspects of music should be taught simultaneously so that the concepts are relevant to the music being played.
Irrelevant with conclusion \

(C) Children need discipline in their learning environment because when they are given the choice, they will usually avoid learning of any kind.
Irrelevant with conclusion \

(D) The classical musical instruments played today are far less cumbersome, and easier to learn, than their predecessors.
RejectD: it doesnt mean today classicial music still may not need discipline. it maybe still demand a lot of practice and theoretical knowledge to master.


(E) There are many children that achieve extremely high levels of musicianship at very young ages.
It maybe that even with slow pace , they may have achived the fate.But as compared to other options, E is remotely connected with time that it is not necessary that children can not learn quickly or time will be wasted if teahet dont concentrate. it maybe possible that some children are talented and get to musicianship very quickly. Then this conclusion weakens a bit.
hence E should be answer

Hi IanStewart

please share your comments on this question. .I think A and E are nearest answer. but at the same time they seem irrelevant also
A: irrelevant: because only talk about efficiency , nothign about time.
A : weaken: let children learn with their own pace, dnt push them. learning is important.

E: weakens: so need to pay more concentration so that children get learn quickly
strengthen : some children are talented and this discipline doesnt matter to children who really can learn with their talent/interests.

There are some open issues on A and E. Finally i Choose E because of time frame/slow progress. But happy to hear your analsis on this question and on A/E ootions .

thanks @IanStewart

It's clearly not an official question, and like most prep company questions, it doesn't use language precisely. When a question isn't using words correctly or precisely, often no answer choice is all that good, and I think that's true of this question, for the reason you point out. As you point out, answer A hinges on how we interpret the word "efficiently". I don't know exactly what they mean by that word, so I don't know how it relates to "wasting time". Even more important with A, we don't know anything about the relationship between discipline and enjoyment. It's perfectly reasonable to think it would be enjoyable to learn quickly, and that it would be enjoyable to learn how to play music expertly. Maybe without any discipline, the student learns nothing, enjoys nothing, and the learning is inefficient, but with some discipline, the student learns music, enjoys it, and learns efficiently. We don't have enough information to know what effect A has on the argument.

I'd still pick A here, because it's the only answer that could be right, but the question just isn't well-designed. E can't be right, though, because we have no idea how those young violin prodigies learned their instrument. So we don't know if these young musicians are evidence in favour of the argument or against the argument.

Weaken strict discipline on children when learning music

(A) The learning process, as proven by a recent brain study, is most efficient when the learner experiences a sense of enjoyment while learning, regardless of the progress being made. (weaken: strict is not most efficient)

(B) The theoretical and practical aspects of music should be taught simultaneously so that the concepts are relevant to the music being played. (irrelevant to strict)

(C) Children need discipline in their learning environment because when they are given the choice, they will usually avoid learning of any kind. (strengthen)

(D) The classical musical instruments played today are far less cumbersome, and easier to learn, than their predecessors. (irrelevant)

(E) There are many children that achieve extremely high levels of musicianship at very young ages. (irrelevant)
Ans: A

Classical musical instruments are very complex and demand a lot of practice and theoretical knowledge to master. To a child, learning the intricacies of such an instrument is very challenging and because of the concentration needed, most children will tire fairly quickly. Since this leads to a slow learning pace, strict discipline should be maintained to avoid wasting time when teaching children how to play such musical instruments.

Which of the following, if true, calls the argument's conclusion into question?


(A) The learning process, as proven by a recent brain study, is most efficient when the learner experiences a sense of enjoyment while learning, regardless of the progress being made. Correct

this choice directly weakens conclusion, to decrease wasting discipline increase learning time

(B) The theoretical and practical aspects of music should be taught simultaneously so that the concepts are relevant to the music being played. Incorrect

suggestion, cant be weakens argument

(C) Children need discipline in their learning environment because when they are given the choice, they will usually avoid learning of any kind. Incorrect

support argument

(D) The classical musical instruments played today are far less cumbersome, and easier to learn, than their predecessors. Incorrect

contradicts with argument

(E) There are many children that achieve extremely high levels of musicianship at very young ages. Incorrect

not related with conclusion, talks about some children and they can be achieve high levels of musicianship without disciplined learning

I should add to my post above: one reason it's difficult to make sense of the word "efficient" in answer A is because of the phrase "regardless of the progress being made". If "efficient" means "progresses most quickly", which is the interpretation everyone picking A is making, then the phrase "regardless of progress" makes no sense. How can study be "efficient", under that definition, if no progress is made? That suggests "efficient' means something else in this question, but I can't guess what.