American composer and conductor John Philip Sousa viewed the increasin

Question

American composer and conductor John Philip Sousa viewed the increasing popularity of the phonograph with deep dismay. He suggested that it would “reduce the expression of music to a mathematical system of megaphones, wheels, cogs, disks, cylinders, and all manner of revolving things, which are as like real art as the marble statue of Eve is like her beautiful, living, breathing daughters.” Such “mechanical” music was not sincere, according to Sousa: “The nightingale’s song is delightful because the nightingale herself gives it forth. The boy with a penny whistle and glass of water may give an excellent imitation, but let him persist, he is sent to bed as a nuisance.”

Sousa further decried a “decline in domestic music,” noting the decline of musical instrument purchases and predicting that when music comes so easily out of a phonograph, mothers will not bother to sing lullabies to their babies. He opined that when music is so readily playable, musical and vocal instruction as a normal part of education will fall out of fashion, the “tide of amateurism” receding, and music will become the province of machines and professional singers only. “What of the national throat?” asked Sousa. “Will it not weaken? What of the national chest? Will it not shrink?”    1 
 1. Which of the following, if they occurred, would contradict Sousa’s arguments?

I. A private school that once demanded two semesters of vocal instruction as a requirement for graduation now offers the same classes as electives.
II. A young boy in an isolated rural area during the Great Depression hears a professional bluegrass band for the first time on a phonograph, and it inspires him to ask his grandfather to teach him to play the family banjo.
III. A modern recording artist comments that, because of her terrible stage fright, her live performances are less genuine than the recordings she is able to produce when she feels comfortable in the studio.

A. I Only
B. III Only
C. I and III Only
D. II and III Only
E. I, II, and III

2 
 2. The “national chest,” as used in the passage, means:

(A) the performances of professional singers
(B) the US Treasury
(C) the phonograph
(D) the vocal abilities of amateur American singers
(E) musical instruments found in American homes

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Sajjad1994 · Answer

Official Explanation

2. The “national chest,” as used in the passage, means:

Explanation

Here,  “chest”  really does mean a part of the human body not a trunk or treasury. The statement about the  “national”  throat and chest comes right after a worry that  “music will become the province of machines and professional singers only.”  Thus, the  “national chest”  is a reference to amateur singers, which matches  choice (D).

Answer: D

dhairya18 · Answer

In Question 2
Sousa is being literal about the human body. He believed that if people stopped singing and breathing deeply to perform music, their actual physical bodies would become weaker.
So National throat & national chest are referring vocal abilities literally. National just refers to masses.

guddo · Answer

2. The “national chest,” as used in the passage, means:

The passage says Sousa feared that easy access to phonograph music would reduce singing and music-making at home. So when he asks what will happen to the “national throat” and the “national chest,” he is talking about ordinary people’s singing ability and vocal strength.

(A) the performances of professional singers

This is not right. Sousa is worried that music will be left to professionals only, so “national chest” refers to the general public, not professionals.

(B) the US Treasury

Nothing in the passage is about money or government finance.

(C) the phonograph

The phonograph is the machine Sousa criticizes, not the “chest.”

(D) the vocal abilities of amateur American singers

This is the best answer. The “national throat” and “national chest” refer to the voice and breath of ordinary Americans, especially  amateurs  who would sing less if machines replace home music-making.

(E) musical instruments found in American homes

The passage mentions declining instrument purchases, but “chest” here clearly refers to the human body, not instruments.

Answer: (D)

guddo · Answer

1. Which of the following, if they occurred, would contradict Sousa’s arguments?

A. I Only
B. III Only
C. I and III Only
D. II and III Only
E. I, II, and III

Sousa makes two main claims:
 recorded music is less  genuine  than live human performance,
 and phonographs reduce amateur singing, playing, and music instruction.

I. A private school that once demanded two semesters of vocal instruction as a requirement for graduation now offers the same classes as electives.

This does not contradict Sousa . It supports him. Sousa says vocal instruction will fall out of fashion, and this shows exactly that decline.

II. A young boy in an isolated rural area during the Great Depression hears a professional bluegrass band for the first time on a phonograph, and it inspires him to ask his grandfather to teach him to play the family banjo.

This does contradict Sousa . Sousa says the phonograph will weaken amateur music-making, but here it leads the boy toward making music himself.

III. A modern recording artist comments that, because of her terrible stage fright, her live performances are less genuine than the recordings she is able to produce when she feels comfortable in the studio.

This also contradicts Sousa . Sousa says mechanical music is less sincere, but here the recording is said to be more genuine than the live performance.

Answer: (D)

American composer and conductor John Philip Sousa viewed the increasin

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American composer and conductor John Philip Sousa viewed the increasin

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