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Craft and StructureHardTwo views on perfect pitch research

Craft and Structure practice question

Text 1 Perfect pitch — naming a note instantly without any reference — appears almost exclusively in musicians who began training before age seven, pointing to a developmental window that, once closed, cannot be reopened. Text 2 Recent training studies complicate the tidy window: a minority of adults, after weeks of structured practice, improved from chance-level note naming to accuracy approaching that of childhood-trained musicians. The window may be less a wall than a slope — steeper with age, but climbable.

Which choice best describes the relationship between the texts?

  1. A. Text 2 uses new evidence to challenge the fixed-window account presented in Text 1.Correct
  2. B. Text 2 explains the biological mechanism behind Text 1's conclusion.
  3. C. Both texts agree that perfect pitch cannot be acquired after childhood.
  4. D. Text 1 reports an experiment that Text 2 says was never conducted.

Answer: A. Text 2 uses new evidence to challenge the fixed-window account presented in Text 1.

Text 1 states the critical-window view; Text 2 reports adults making real gains in training studies, directly challenging the window's firmness.

Why the other answers are wrong

B. Text 2 explains the biological mechanism behind Text 1's conclusion.
Text 2 undermines rather than explains Text 1's conclusion.
C. Both texts agree that perfect pitch cannot be acquired after childhood.
Text 2 argues the opposite — some adults improved substantially.
D. Text 1 reports an experiment that Text 2 says was never conducted.
Text 2 cites its own training studies and disputes no experiment's existence.

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