SAT Question 9645f55e: Answer & Explanation

Text 1

For decades, bluegrass musicians have debated whether their genre should exclude influences from mainstream genres such as rock. Many insist that bluegrass is defined by its adherence to the folk music of the US South, out of which bluegrass emerged. Such “purists,” as they are known, regard the recordings of Bill Monroe, which established the bluegrass sound in the 1940s, as a standard against which the genre should still be measured.

Text 2

Bluegrass isn’t simply an extension of folk traditions into the era of recorded music. In reality, Bill Monroe created the bluegrass sound in the 1940s by combining Southern folk music with commercial genres that had arisen only a few decades before, such as jazz and the blues. Since bluegrass has always been a mixed genre, contemporary bluegrass musicians should not be forbidden from incorporating into it influences from rock and other mainstream genres.

Difficulty:Medium

Based on the texts, how would the author of Text 2 most likely regard the perspective of bluegrass purists, as described in Text 1?

As inconsistent, since bluegrass purists themselves enjoy other musical genres

As unrealistic, since bluegrass purists have no way of enforcing their musical preferences

As shortsighted, because bluegrass could enlarge its audience by including influences from mainstream genres

As illogical, because the purists overlook crucial aspects of how the bluegrass sound first originated.

SAT Question 9645f55e: Cross-text Connections answer and explanation

Text 1

Text 2

Explanation

Why the other choices are wrong