People who listen to certain recordings of music are in danger of bein

Question

People who listen to certain recordings of music are in danger of being unduly influenced by spoken messages that have been recorded backwards on the records or tapes.

A consequence of the view above is that

(A) the spoken messages must be louder than the music on the recordings

(B) backwards messages can be added to a recording while still preserving all of the musical qualities of the recorded performance

(C) the recordings on which such messages appear are chosen for this purpose either because they are especially popular or because they introduce a trancelike state

(D) if such messages must be comprehended to exert influence, then people must be able to comprehend spoken messages recorded backwards

(E) when people listen to recorded music, they pay full attention to the music as it plays

MarkSullivan · Accepted Answer

As always with CR, let's start with the question itself!

This is a  Draw a Conclusion  question, and when it comes to this question type, here's the golden rule:

Pick the Conclusion that follows  directly  from the givens.

And so we're on to step two: understand those givens!

Here's what we know:

There are musical recordings with backwards message. 
  Listening to  certain  examples of such music  may  result in one being influenced by the message.

... and really, that's it. We don't have much to work with here! That actually carries a major pro on  Draw a Conclusion  – any answer choice that tries to claim "too much" should be tossed aside. Let's dive in ...

1) the spoken messages must be louder than the music on the recordings.

Remember that we're trying to  draw  a conclusion from what they have told us. There is nothing in the passage about volume.  Wrong.

2) backwards messages can be added to a recording while still preserving all the musical qualities of the recorded performance

Same problem as (A). We're just told that people who do listen to these may be influenced by the message. We have no idea how good they sound!  Wrong.

3) the recordings on which such messages appear are chosen for this purpose either because they are especially popular or because they induce a trancelike state

Why were these particular recordings chosen to have such messages? We don't know  anything  about where the message came from or who recorded them, let alone  why  they did it.  Wrong.

4) if such messages must be comprehended to exert influence, then people must be able to comprehend spoken messages recorded backwards
 
Now finally we have a real contender! Notice the overlap in language between this choice and the original passage – they both talk about "such message" and "exert  influence". Let's break down what (D) is really saying. Note that it is of the form "if P, then Q," where

P = such messages must be comprehended to exert influence

and

Q = people must be able to comprehend spoken messages recorded backwards

(Note that I tend to think pretty Quantitatively, even on the Verbal section!) Well, what do we know about influence from the passage? We know that some people are influenced by these messages. If we take P as given (people must understand the messages for them to be influenced by the messages), and we know that some people  are  influenced by the messages, then we can safely conclude Q (those people are able to understand the messages).

Note that in choosing choice (D), we are only concluding the if/then statement "if P, then Q". We are actually  not  concluding Q itself (people can understand the messages), nor can we!! We are just saying that, "if people must understand to be influenced, AND people actually are getting influenced, then we can say that people must understand."

It's pretty subtle, but hopefully that makes sense. (D) is in fact the correct answer, but really the better way to go here is to just try eliminating (E)! Let's take a look ...

5) when people listen to recorded music, they pay full attention to the music as it plays
 
The passage never says that we have to pay full attention to the music (or the message, for that matter) to be influenced by the message. All we know is that there are messages and some people are influenced by them. That's it.  Wrong.

I think the original post says (E) for the correct answer, but it's definitely (D)!

Hope that helps!

Mark

whiplash2411 · Answer

The statement tells you that in certain recordings, there are messages recorded backwards. And that people are in "danger" of being influenced.

It asks for the  consequences  of the statement.

A. It's not a consequence, it's a condition.
B. Once again, it's stating something which is not a consequence. 
C. You don't know this for sure since nothing in the paragraph implies this.
D. This is the best option since the paragraph mentions "danger" of being influenced. To be influenced, you need to understand the meaning. Thus you need to know what it's saying, even when it's recorded backwards. 
E. This statement isn't quite pertinent.

Ans: D.

sandeepnerli · Answer

People who listen to certain recordings of music  are in danger of being unduly influenced by spoken messages that have been recorded backwards on the records or tapes.

First of all, its a consequence question, this is more of must be true question. So what must be true such that the messages spoken backwards influence people? People need to understand what is being spoken backwards, keeping this in mind scan the answer choices and only D matches.

Hence D is the answer.

(A) the spoken messages must be louder than the music on the recordings -  This doesn't establish whether recordings spoken backwards influence people 
(B) backwards messages can be added to a recording while still preserving all of the musical qualities of the recorded performance -  Again this option does not concern what is being asked 
(C) the recordings on which such messages appear are chosen for this purpose either because they are especially popular or because they introduce a trancelike state -  This does not setup a correct correlation 
(D) if such messages must be comprehended to exert influence, then people must be able to comprehend spoken messages recorded backwards -  Exactly what we are looking for 
(E) when people listen to recorded music, they pay full attention to the music as it plays -  Attention?? This does not tell why people are influenced

Hope this helps.

Sandeep Nerli

gjg · Answer

On average, we have one and half minutes to deal with a CR question. It will take an average of one minute to carefully read a stimulus, a question stem, and five answer choices. There will be around half minute to choose the correct answer. Do you think there is enough time for you to brainstorm some assumptions to handle the assumption family questions in such a short time? On the contrary, to save the valuable time, can we read the stimulus first rather than question first and then repeat the same question later since we already know that there are two major CR question types – assumption family and inference family plus some other minor ones – flawing reasoning, parallel reasoning, resolving paradox, function, etc.? I think a would-be GMAT 800 winner definitely employs a counterintuitive technique rather than follow an inflexible 4-step pattern to crack some “crazy” CR questions?

In short, can we just comprehensively read the squib and question and rapidly make an educated guess at the best answer with the right pattern in mind just as an aardvark quickly and accurately gets its prey with an electric tread in its tapered snout?

In short, can we just comprehensively read the squib and question and rapidly make an educated guess at the best answer with the right pattern in mind just as an aardvark quickly and accurately gets its prey with an electric tread in its tapered snout?

popov · Answer

Hi Mark,

I agree with elimination of first 3 option as you have highlighted, and also that option D and E are good contenders. But option D is definitely not the right answer considering following reasons

I) Question asks us to draw conclusion from the GIVEN argument - "A conclusion can be drawn  from the above  is that ". The answer choice D introduces new argument, argument p as you have highlighted. The choice D is correct, only when argument p is added to the given argument. That is, it goes against the requirement stated in the question.
II) Answer choice E is actually a pre-requisite type of conclusion. That is, if full attention is not paid, then there is no question of understanding or not understanding backwardly recorded message.
III) A best scenario to get influenced by message would be (in the given order) 
a) pay full attention to music and all messages inside 
b) be able to interpret the backward message (note that there is no "if" condition here, unlike option D) 
c) Get influenced by interpreted message (as given in the passage)

If we fail to do III-a, then there is no question of being able to interpret the message.

Hence, E should be the correct choice.

taleesh · Answer

I choose D after taking +5 minutes for single question. Expert advice please what is the right answer?

Option E) - i find it more like assumption and not conclusion, logic gap filler - music record listening.....PAY FULL ATTENTION.... get influenced. 
And its a conclusion question answer must be drawn from given argument.

LogicGuru1 · Answer

E is the strongest contender People who LISTEN TO blah blah blah blah blah INFLUENCED BY SPOKEN MESSAGES blah blah blah blah Here Listening is the cause and getting influenced is the effect. IF CAUSE DOES NOT HAPPEN EFFECT WILL NOT HAPPEN. If you don't understand french you can't appreciate a Tragic french poem. You may laugh .. ha ha ha ha at their funny accent. But the poem is suppose to influence you to feel pain and hurt. Every single Frensh person cries bucket full of tears whenever he hear the poem. And here look at you, laughing at the Poem :-D

So the argument is concluding that people pay full attention., therefore at at risk of getting influences. CORRECT ANSWER IS E

mikemcgarry · Answer

Dear Tuckwhartonbooth , I'm happy to respond. :-)

This is an LSAT Logical Reasoning question--it's from an LSAT in 1992. I corrected the OA in this thread: it should be (D). It doesn't quite have the feel of a GMAT CR question. For example, I don't believe I have seen many GMAT CR questions that have " if-then " statements in the answer choices. The LSAT has much more emphasis on formal logic than does the GMAT. Nevertheless, for GMAT students wanting to sharpen their CR skills, the LSAT Logical Reasoning questions provide excellent practice. Choice (D) has a formal logical structure that, again, is more typical of the LSAT than of the GMAT, but it's clearly the best answer. This question is logically rigorous and very well constructed. If you understand questions of this sort well, then the GMAT CR will seem easy by comparison. Does all this make sense? Mike :-)

Tuckwhartonbooth · Answer

Mike,

Thank you for your clarification on this question. I/we really appreciate you taking the time on this...

I did notice that the blog webpage still has the incorrect answer under the part that needs to be highlighted to see the answer. Would you be able to update that as well?

All the best and thanks again!

mikemcgarry · Answer

Dear Tuckwhartonbooth , My friend, I apologize, but I don't understand what you are asking--when you say " the blog webpage ," to exactly what website are you referring? Mike :-)

Tuckwhartonbooth · Answer

Hi Mike,

Sorry about that. I attempted to insert the webpage for you, but I was unable to do so due to the restriction of this site. You'll need to add gmatclub  dot  com in front of the first / I can't send the link to you because I haven't made enough posts.

/blog/2017/03/gmat-question-of-the-day-march-10-3/

mikemcgarry · Answer

Dear Tuckwhartonbooth , I'm happy to respond. :-)

I tried to go to gmatclub.com/blog/2017/03/gmat-question-of-the-day-march-10-3/ and I got an error message. In any event, as a moderator from another company, I have some privileges to do basic editing in the verbal forum, but only the employees of GMAT Club can to site-wide editing, such as the Questions of the Day. For example, the brilliant souvik101990 works for GMAT Club and might be able to make that change if the post still exists. Does all this make sense? Mike :-)

Crytiocanalyst · Answer

(A) the spoken messages must be louder than the music on the recordings
It can be that it is sync in a perfectly audible sense

(B) backwards messages can be added to a recording while still preserving all of the musical qualities of the recorded performance
there may be a pausiblities that the music is stopped and later played for the recording this cannot be ruled out

(C) the recordings on which such messages appear are chosen for this purpose either because they are especially popular or because they introduce a trancelike state
May be that it wasn't popular later it caught on the trensd can be a possiblity

(D) if such messages must be comprehended to exert influence, then people must be able to comprehend spoken messages recorded backwards
Yes this is a valid point understanding is key to breaking the deadlock

(E) when people listen to recorded music, they pay full attention to the music as it play
May be patial is enough to catch on the message

unraveled · Answer

People who listen to certain recordings of music are in danger of being unduly influenced by spoken messages that have been recorded backwards on the records or tapes.

A consequence of the view above is that

(A) the spoken messages  must be louder than  the music on the recordings - WRONG. Louder is irrelevant.

(B) backwards messages can be added to a recording while  still preserving all of the musical qualities  of the recorded performance - WRONG. How does it impact the listener is not clearly inferable from this.

(C) the recordings on which such messages appear are  chosen for this purpose  either because they are especially popular or because they introduce a trancelike state - WRONG. Goes in a direction that does not help. Purpose at best is irrelevant.

(D) if such messages must be comprehended to exert influence, then  people must be able to comprehend spoken messages  recorded backwards - CORRECT. If they don't comprehend then they may not get influenced.

(E) when people listen to recorded music, they  pay full attention  to the music as it plays - WRONG. Not necessarily true but more importantly it not helpful.

Answer D.

People who listen to certain recordings of music are in danger of bein

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People who listen to certain recordings of music are in danger of bein

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