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Description:
ACT Reading 2.1 Humanities Passage. Which of the following statements about Schumann is not expressed in the passage?
Transcript
- 00:03
Here's your Shmoop du jour, brought to you by Schumann. <<shoe-mahn>> He's kind of
- 00:07
like Spidah-maann... except his superpower is having awesome shoes.
- 00:32
Which of the following statements about Schumann is NOT expressed in the passage?
- 00:44
Okay, so if the answer to this one doesn't jump out at us immediately...
- 00:46
...we'll have to solidify the answer choices in our minds, and then go back and skim to
Full Transcript
- 00:50
figure out which one the passage doesn't mention.
- 00:53
Now that we know the passage like the back of our hand...
- 00:55
We'll take a look at choice (A) to see if it's included in the passage.
- 00:58
Oh, sure, we remember this one from lines 13 through 15.
- 01:02
The passage specifically says that Schumann started composing between the ages of 7 or
- 01:07
8, when some of us were more concerned with building tree forts.
- 01:11
Choice (A) is off the list. (B) has to go as well, since the final three
- 01:14
paragraphs fill us in on Schumann's gradual descent into mental illness.
- 01:18
Unfortunately, answer (B) is all too true.
- 01:21
Choice (C) is a little trickier to eliminate.
- 01:22
The passage doesn't specifically say that Schumann was uninterested in subjects other than music.
- 01:28
In the second paragraph, though, it tells us "Robert was a good student in the primary
- 01:32
school, but in no way distinguished himself in his studies."
- 01:36
Afterwards, the passage makes a point of telling us how excited about life Schumann was once
- 01:40
he discovered the piano.
- 01:41
So, even though the passage doesn't say it directly, we can infer that choice (C)
- 01:44
is true... and can be eliminated.
- 01:47
This leaves us with only choice (D) to consider.
- 01:49
Looks like we've done our job correctly, because nowhere in the discussion is Schumann compared to Mozart.
- 01:54
Even though it is true that Mozart was a child prodigy as well, the passage doesn't mention
- 01:58
it, making (D) the correct answer.
- 02:00
Idea for a new reality show: child composers compete against each other... to the death.
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