Critics often treat formal restraint and emotional intensity in Maurice Ravel’s string quartet as competing aims. His sketches, however, show him tightening the work’s proportions precisely when he sought a more lyrical effect. The sketches thus _____ the supposed opposition between restraint and expressiveness: in Ravel’s process, formal control was not emotion’s rival but one means of producing it.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?
For a Words-in-Context question, first paraphrase the logical relationship established by the full passage. When two options point in the same general direction, compare their scope and intensity: determine whether the context describes a partial change, a complete change, or a reversal, and select the word that captures that distinction most precisely.
Hints
Track the relationship between the ideas
Determine whether the passage presents formal control and emotional expression as incompatible, partly compatible, or mutually supportive.
Use the final clause
Focus on the distinction between saying that two aims compete less strongly and saying that one aim actually helps produce the other.
Compare degrees of change
Two choices may both suggest weakening an opposition. Decide whether the passage describes a partial reduction or the removal of the opposition’s basis.
Step-by-step Explanation
Identify the supposed relationship
The first sentence presents formal restraint and emotional intensity as “competing aims.” The blank must describe what the evidence from Ravel’s sketches does to that alleged conflict.
Interpret the evidence
Ravel tightened the quartet’s proportions at the same time that he pursued a more lyrical effect. This indicates that formal control did not impede emotional expression; instead, the control helped produce that expression.
Distinguish the closest choices
“Soften” would mean reducing the strength of the opposition while allowing some conflict to remain. But the final clause goes further: formal control was “not emotion’s rival” at all. “Reinforce” would strengthen the opposition, and “reverse” would invert the relationship while still treating the two aims as opposed.
Select the most precise word
“Dissolve” means to cause a distinction or conflict to disappear. It therefore precisely captures how the evidence eliminates the supposed opposition between restraint and expressiveness.