Question 16·200 Super-Hard SAT Reading Questions·Information and Ideas
Music historian Sora Kwan examined handwritten corrections in printed orchestral parts from the nineteenth century. Among the sets that survive, corrections are denser in parts used by prestigious municipal orchestras than in those used by traveling ensembles, seemingly indicating that municipal orchestras rehearsed more meticulously. Municipal libraries, however, typically retained complete sets after performances. Traveling ensembles often replaced worn pages, divided sets among departing musicians, or copied the music into new booklets, practices that reduced the likelihood that their original annotations would survive. Moreover, musicians from both kinds of ensembles described correcting printed parts during rehearsal. Taken together, this evidence suggests that ______
Which choice most logically completes the text?
For an inference question, distinguish what the passage establishes from what it merely makes possible. When historical evidence was preserved under unequal conditions, avoid treating differences in surviving records as direct proof of differences in past behavior. Prefer the choice that reflects the passage’s limitations without making an unsupported claim of its own.
Hints
Separate survival from original behavior
Consider whether the number of corrections that remain today necessarily reflects how many corrections musicians originally made.
Compare preservation practices
Focus on what happened to municipal score sets versus the materials used by traveling ensembles.
Avoid overclaiming
The evidence supports a cautious conclusion about what cannot be established, not a precise claim about how frequently either group made corrections.
Step-by-step Explanation
Identify the apparent conclusion
The surviving municipal-orchestra parts contain denser corrections, which could initially seem to indicate more meticulous rehearsal.
Account for preservation differences
Municipal libraries retained complete sets, whereas traveling ensembles frequently replaced, divided, or recopied their materials. Those practices could erase or disperse the traveling musicians’ annotations. The musicians’ descriptions also confirm that both kinds of ensembles made corrections, though they do not establish equal rates.
Draw the appropriately cautious inference
Because the surviving records were preserved differently, the archival evidence cannot reliably demonstrate a difference in how the ensembles rehearsed. The correct answer is the contrast between the surviving sets is insufficient to establish a corresponding contrast in rehearsal practices.