The Seventh Symphony (1812) was, at the time, Beethoven’s last

additional question:
Which of the following is the purpose of the first sentence of the second paragraph?

To introduce the differences between the Eighth Symphony and earlier works of similar scale
To indicate how Beethoven felt that nostalgia had no place in symphonic compositions
To explain what is so rough and uncompromising about a work such as the Eighth Symphony.
To emphasize that the Eighth Symphony had almost nothing in common with Beethoven's previous works, except in the most superficial assessment
To demonstrate why the Eighth Symphony was considerably more optimistic than were Beethoven's early works.

OA is A



The author most likely mentioned the F-minor String Quartet, Op. 95 in order to

A. show, by contrast, how friendly and approachable the Eighth Symphony is
B expand the list of Beethoven's works that could be called a tour de force.
C provide an example of a work that is concentrated but not violent
D. cite another work similar in formal organization to the Eighth Symphony
E. elucidate the channel by which the Fifth Symphony influenced the Eighth.

OA is D

1. The author implies which of the following is a characteristic of "classicism"?

A. nostalgia
-> 1st sentence of 2nd paragraph said nostagia is wrong
B. lack of focus
-> not mentioned
C. compromising
-> 'He "had already done" something like this two years earlier in one of his most uncompromising work,
the F-minor String Quartet,Op.95
D. dense saturation
-> It is as though he were picking up where he had left off in the densely saturated~
it menas that classicism is not dense saturation.
E. works on a smaller scale
-> Correct
1. 'much brevity for its own sake'
2. The passage aruges that 8th symphony's one of trait is bigger.
classicism differs from 8th symphony so it is correct


2. Which of the following does the author imply about Beethoven's Eighth Symphony?

A. It is compromising, and not vibrant like a piece typical of classicism
-> it is vibrant.
B. In it, for the first time, Beethoven explored concentration as an organizing principle for an entire symphony
-> Not entire symphony. The passage said 8th sympnoy is new.(2dn sentence of 1st paragraph)
C. It was more inwardly focused, less rhetorical than the F-minor String Quartet, Op. 95
-> Correct
Last sentence of 2nd paragraph said
"by comparison, the Eight Sympony is Opus 95's friendly, open-featured cousin, (similar)
even though its first and last movements bring us some of the most violent moments in Beethoven. (diff)"
D. It rejected the sonata style used in the Seventh Symphony, exploring completely new ways to organize music.
-> completely new ways to organize music -> wrong
not organize music, but organize material
E. Compared to his other symphonies, it is a particularly esoteric public work, having both friendly and violent tendencies.
-> 'particularly' is not mentioned. Extreme expression.


3. The passage provides support for which of the following?

A. Beethoven's Eighth Symphony would not be appreciated by connoisseurs.
-> not mentioned.
B. The Fifth Symphony is the shortest symphony between the First and the Eighth.
-> not mentioned
C. In 1795, Beethoven composed works that contained less development than the majority of pieces over the next 15 years.
-> Correct.
'To say it is 1795 revisited from the vantage point of 1812 is not right either.
What interests Beethoven is not so much brevity for its own sake-and certainly not
something called "classicism" - as concentration."

: It looks like brevity is wrong. But this passage wants to said that
1795 includes brevity, but just it is not interest of Beethoven.
It means that 1795 Beethoven composed works that contained less development
D. The F-minor String Quartet, Op. 95 is one of Beethoven's most esoteric works.
-> 8th symphony is the most esoteric works
E. Later in life, Beethoven developed significant misgivings about the big development characteristic of Symphonies of his middle period.
-> 'misgiving' is wrong

additional questions
The author most likely mentioned the F-minor String Quartet, Op. 95 in order to

A show, by contrast, how friendly and approachable the Eighth Symphony is
B expand the list of Beethoven's works that could be called a tour de force.
C provide an example of a work that is concentrated but not violent
D cite another work similar in formal organization to the Eighth Symphony
E elucidate the channel by which the Fifth Symphony influenced the Eighth.

OA is D

Official Explanation of Q5

This is a detail question. The F-minor String Quartet, Op. 95 is mentioned in the last two sentences of the entire passage. He cites this as another example of a another work organized by the principle of "concentration" or "tight-packing."

Choice (D) says exactly this --- both the Op. 95 Quartet and the Eighth Symphony share the "concentration" or "tight-packing" principle underlying their organization.

Choice (A) is misleading. The Eighth contains "violent" music, which doesn't necessarily sound "friendly and approachable". More importantly, the Op. 95 Quartet was cited primarily to demonstrate a similarity, not a different. Choice (A) is not correct.

The author happens to refer to both first movement of the Fifth and the entire Eighth as a "tour de force", but clearly, making a list of every Beethoven work that could be called a "tour de force" is not the author's concern. Choice (B) is not correct.

We know that the Op. 95 is an example of a concentrated work, but do we know whether that music would be described as violent? The passage calls it "uncompromising", which could be construed as "violent" --- certainly, we have no evidence that it is not "violent", so choice (C) is not correct.

The three works happen to be mentioned in that order --- Fifth, Op. 95 Quartet, Eighth --- but there is absolutely nothing suggesting there was a single chain linking those three works in particular. The idea of "concentration" seemed something that occupied Beethoven in his late years in general, and these are just three examples of this larger interest. Choice (E) is not correct.

Official Explanation for Q4

In the first paragraph, the author mentions a superficial similarity between the First Symphony and the Eighth --- they are both on the short side. In the first sentence of the second paragraph, he dispels any notion that there is any more profound similarity between them, and proceeds to talk about the new organizing principle used in the Eighth. This exactly what choice (A), the credited answer, says.

The author uses idea of "nostalgia" as a metaphor for the wrong way to interpret the Eighth, but we have no idea what Beethoven actually thought about nostalgia or whether he ever used it in any symphony. Choice (B) is not correct.

First of all, we don't know that the Eighth Symphony is "rough and uncompromising", and even if it is, it's not clear that anything in the first sentence of the second paragraph even vaguely refers to this. Choice (C) is not correct.

Choice (D) is too extreme. The passage later talks about deep similarities with two previous works, the first movement of the Fifth Symphony and the Op. 95 String Quartet. These examples contradict choice (D), so choice (D) is not correct.

Was the Eighth Symphony "optimistic"? Neither this word or this idea is discussed anywhere in the passage, so we have absolutely no basis on which to evaluate this claim. Choice (E) is not correct.

Official Explanation for Q3

A primary purpose question. The credited answer is (C). The whole passage is about the Eighth Symphony, and specifically, how it was a much more "compact" or "tightly packed" symphony that the previous "big style" symphonies. Thus, Beethoven had "new objectives" in composing the Eighth, as this answer says.

The passage mentions "inward" as examples of one extreme in Beethoven's late period. The Eighth Symphony is not "private," so it would seem it's not "inward." The passage also discusses the Op. 95 quartet as "uncompromising," and that piece is presented as a contrast to the Eighth Symphony, so it's unclear whether that term would apply. Choice (A) is not correct.

The passage uses the phrase: "It is almost as though [Beethoven] wanted to call his entire development throughout that decade into question." This is a metaphor. It does not say Beethoven actually thought anything bad about what he had previously done. It just emphasizes how radically different the new direction was. There is no evidence in the passage that Beethoven actually called any of his work into question. Choice (B) is not correct.

The passage does discuss Beethoven's new objectives in composing the Eighth, but it really spends no time analyzing other works—it just mentions a few in passing. The phrase in the answer "all of his previous works" is far too extreme. Choice (D) is not correct.

The passage is primarily descriptive, telling what Beethoven was trying to accomplish. The passage does call the Eighth a "tour de force," which is high praise, but other than that, really says nothing evaluative. What little is said is positive, but "call into question" sounds negative, so this doesn't fit. Choice (E) is not correct.

Hi Bunuel is this a high quality RC passage? Just wondering because of the scary stats of the first four questions?

Unbelievably challenging passage, I encourage all who want 750+ to try this out!

I got 2 out of 5 wrong and took almost 12 mins. If I encounter this passage in later sessions during the real exam, I probably will just guess it through.

Here's my analysis


A. nostalgia if you select this one, you obviously misunderstand it as the 1st sentence of 2nd paragraph predicted
B. lack of focus
C. compromising this might be tempting for some people - later on the author did mention "He had already done something like this two years earlier in one of his most uncompromising works..." however it basically highlights the style of the music to be "uncompromising" not necessarily "what interests Beethoven"
D. dense saturation refer to "It is as though he were picking up where he had left off in the densely saturated" - "as though" indicates he didn't
E. works on a smaller scale nowhere to find the reference for this answer out

Ok, so this is a typical inference question, I need to refer back the passage: "What interests Beethoven is not so much brevity for its own sake — and certainly not something called “classicism” — as concentration", which clearly said that the motivation behind 8th symphony is not much about brevity, certainly not classicism but concentration. So we know classicism <> concentration, B is the correct answer. In terms of why other questions are wrong, refer to my comments in RED above




A. It is compromising, and not vibrant like a piece typical of classicism the author mentioned 8th symphony to be uncompromising, refer to "He had already done something like this two years earlier in one of his most uncompromising works"
B. In it, for the first time, Beethoven explored concentration as an organizing principle for an entire symphony
very tricky one, you have to piece several indirect references together to confirm B (or if you can rule all other 4 incorrect answers out with confidence) - the first several sentences in 2nd paragraph indicate 8th is not like any other ones before, and concentration is its highlight. And then the passage goes on and confirm the 1st movement of 5th symphony has concentration too ("densely saturated") but not the entire symphony. So it's the first time of concentration for the entire symphony.
Some might argue that "He had already done something like this two years earlier in one of his most uncompromising works, the F-minor String Quartet, Op. 95" indicates it's not first time Beethoven did that. Well, symphony is not string quartet as indicated by "But a symphony is not a “private” connoisseur’s music like a string quartet", so it's still the first time for the "entire symphony"

C. It was more inwardly focused, less rhetorical than the F-minor String Quartet, Op. 95 the first part of this answer is correct, however we don't know the 2nd part "less rhetorical than Op. 95", which is not mentioned
D. It rejected the sonata style used in the Seventh Symphony, exploring completely new ways to organize music. author mentioned Beethoven could try to create "his most public and his most esoteric...compositions that plumb the inexhaustible possibilities of the sonata style" after 7th symphony, but instead he explored something new. But it didn't mean 8th symphony rejected the sonata style, the wording is too extreme
E. Compared to his other symphonies, it is a particularly esoteric public work, having both friendly and violent tendencies. same reference with D, the author did imply Beethoven explored something other than the most esoteric, but it didn't imply anything about how "particularly esoteric" 8th is. The 2nd part of this choice sounds legitimate though



A. Beethoven's Eighth Symphony would not be appreciated by connoisseurs. "a symphony is not a “private” connoisseur’s music" didn't mean connoisseurs would not appreciate it
B. The Fifth Symphony is the shortest symphony between the First and the Eighth. "He writes, that is, a symphony shorter than any since his First" indicate 8th is the shortest. Also when reading the passage, take note when encountering extreme wording
C. In 1795, Beethoven composed works that contained less development than the majority of pieces over the next 15 years. correct answer, refer to "To say it is 1795 revisited from the vantage point of 1812 is not right either. What interests Beethoven is not so much brevity for its own sake — and certainly not something called “classicism” — as concentration." author implies brevity is the theme for work in 1795 and then "big style" was mentioned in the early 1820s
D. The F-minor String Quartet, Op. 95 is one of Beethoven's most esoteric works. nowhere justify OP. 95 is the "most esoteric work"
E. Later in life, Beethoven developed significant misgivings about the big development characteristic of Symphonies of his middle period. "developed significant misgivings" (extreme wording, ring the bell) is not justified, even though "It is almost as though he wanted to call his entire development throughout that decade into question." contains "call...into question", but "as though" (something did not happen) removes the threat



A. To introduce the differences between the Eighth Symphony and earlier works of similar scale correct answer
B. To indicate how Beethoven felt that nostalgia had no place in symphonic compositions 8th is not nostalgia doesn't mean Beethoven didn't like it
C. To explain what is so rough and uncompromising about a work such as the Eighth Symphony. this is not discussed until later in the 2nd paragraph, plus "rough" is not mentioned
D. To emphasize that the Eighth Symphony had almost nothing in common with Beethoven's previous works, except in the most superficial assessment "Nothing in common" and "most superficial assessment" (extreme wording) are not justified, at least the 1st movement of 5th is similar to it
E. To demonstrate why the Eighth Symphony was considerably more optimistic than were Beethoven's early works. "optimistic" is not mentioned



A. show, by contrast, how friendly and approachable the Eighth Symphony is similarity is the key here, the comparison is not mentioned until later on
B. expand the list of Beethoven's works that could be called a tour de force. analogy is used to highlight the similarities, not just to expand the list
C. provide an example of a work that is concentrated but not violent maybe, but the function is to provide an analogy
D. cite another work similar in formal organization to the Eighth Symphony correct, "He had already done something like" indicate Op 95 is used as an analogy
E. elucidate the channel by which the Fifth Symphony influenced the Eighth. similar <> influencing, this is not confirmed

Definitely one of the toughest passage i have encountered.

Can some expert help with the passage summary/map for this one? Really struggling to understand the main idea, passage structure and author's tone.

Thanks!

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