A quotation question about a study tests whether a speaker’s words support the scientist’s conclusion. Put the conclusion in a few words and split it into parts, then predict what kind of report would support it. Put each quotation in plain words and check what the speaker actually reports. What the speaker reports must support what the scientist claims. A line on the same topic isn’t enough, and you shouldn’t add effects the speaker never describes.
Hints
- Hint 1
Look at the sentence beginning “Based on the interview transcripts.” Put the scientist’s conclusion in a few words, keeping both parts of it.
- Hint 2
For each quotation, ask what you learn about the music’s effect on the student’s work. How does that report relate to the two effects named in the conclusion?
Step-by-step
Match the student’s report to the conclusion
Step 1Put the conclusion in plain words
The scientist claims music can increase students’ concentration and help them finish academic tasks more quickly. What kind of interview report would support that? We’d expect a student to describe a benefit while solving the problems, because the claim is about focus and speed, not the music alone.
- Step 2
Set aside knowing the music and preferring silence
Do one my grandmother loves and I prefer silence show that music can help them finish academic tasks more quickly? Recognizing a piece tells us the student knows the music, and preferring silence tells us about a usual habit. Neither report tells us how the student did on the problems.
- Step 3
Find evidence of quicker work
I got used to it says the initial distraction faded, which doesn’t show better focus or faster work. What does faster than I usually do add? That student reports solving equations more quickly with music playing, which supports the claim that music can help students finish academic tasks more quickly. The report doesn’t measure concentration separately, but it gives a specific result about academic work. Choice A.