Q.1 The passage below is accompanied by a set of questions. Choose the best answer to each question.
[Octopuses are] misfits in their own extended families . . . They belong to the Mollusca class Cephalopoda.
But they don’t look like their cousins at all. Other molluscs include sea snails, sea slugs, bivalves - most are
shelled invertebrates with a dorsal foot. Cephalopods are all arms, and can be as tiny as 1 centimetre and as
large at 30 feet. Some of them have brains the size of a walnut, which is large for an invertebrate. . . .
It makes sense for these molluscs to have added protection in the form of a higher cognition; they don’t
have a shell covering them, and pretty much everything feeds on cephalopods, including humans. But how
did cephalopods manage to secure their own invisibility cloak? Cephalopods fire from multiple cylinders to
achieve this in varying degrees from species to species. There are four main catalysts - chromatophores,
iridophores, papillae and leucophores. . . .
[Chromatophores] are organs on their bodies that contain pigment sacs, which have red, yellow and brown
pigment granules. These sacs have a network of radial muscles, meaning muscles arranged in a circle
radiating outwards. These are connected to the brain by a nerve. When the cephalopod wants to change
colour, the brain carries an electrical impulse through the nerve to the muscles that expand outwards, pulling
open the sacs to display the colours on the skin. Why these three colours? Because these are the colours the
light reflects at the depths they live in (the rest is absorbed before it reaches those depths). . . .
Well, what about other colours? Cue the iridophores. Think of a second level of skin that has thin stacks of
cells. These can reflect light back at different wavelengths. . . . It’s using the same properties that we’ve
seen in hologram stickers, or rainbows on puddles of oil. You move your head and you see a different colour.
The sticker isn’t doing anything but reflecting light - it’s your movement that’s changing the appearance of
the colour. This property of holograms, oil and other such surfaces is called “iridescence”. . . .
Papillae are sections of the skin that can be deformed to make a texture bumpy. Even humans possess
them (goosebumps) but cannot use them in the manner that cephalopods can. For instance, the use of
these cells is how an octopus can wrap itself over a rock and appear jagged or how a squid or cuttlefish can
imitate the look of a coral reef by growing miniature towers on its skin. It actually matches the texture of the
substrate it chooses.
Finally, the leucophores: According to a paper, published in Nature, cuttlefish and octopuses possess an
additional type of reflector cell called a leucophore. They are cells that scatter full spectrum light so that
they appear white in a similar way that a polar bear’s fur appears white. Leucophores will also reflect any
filtered light shown on them . . . If the water appears blue at a certain depth, the octopuses and cuttlefish
can appear blue; if the water appears green, they appear green, and so on and so forth. Which one of the following statements is not true about the camouflaging ability of Cephalopods?
A. Cephalopods can blend into the colour of their surroundings.
B. Cephalopods can change their texture.
C. Cephalopods can change their colour
D. Cephalopods can take on the colour of their predator.
Detailed Analysis:
Options A and C: The discussion on Chromatophores, iridophores and leucophores sufficiently supports the
statements here.
Option B: We can infer this from the following excerpt - {Papillae are sections of the skin that can be
deformed to make a texture bumpy... For instance, the use of these cells is how an octopus can wrap itself
over a rock and appear jagged or how a squid or cuttlefish can imitate the look of a coral reef by growing
miniature towers on its skin. It actually matches the texture of the substrate it chooses.}
Option D is not discussed anywhere in the passage.
Q.2 The passage below is accompanied by a set of questions. Choose the best answer to each question.
[Octopuses are] misfits in their own extended families . . . They belong to the Mollusca class Cephalopoda.
But they don’t look like their cousins at all. Other molluscs include sea snails, sea slugs, bivalves - most are
shelled invertebrates with a dorsal foot. Cephalopods are all arms, and can be as tiny as 1 centimetre and as
large at 30 feet. Some of them have brains the size of a walnut, which is large for an invertebrate. . . .
It makes sense for these molluscs to have added protection in the form of a higher cognition; they don’t
have a shell covering them, and pretty much everything feeds on cephalopods, including humans. But how
did cephalopods manage to secure their own invisibility cloak? Cephalopods fire from multiple cylinders to
achieve this in varying degrees from species to species. There are four main catalysts - chromatophores,
iridophores, papillae and leucophores. . . .
[Chromatophores] are organs on their bodies that contain pigment sacs, which have red, yellow and brown
pigment granules. These sacs have a network of radial muscles, meaning muscles arranged in a circle
radiating outwards. These are connected to the brain by a nerve. When the cephalopod wants to change
colour, the brain carries an electrical impulse through the nerve to the muscles that expand outwards, pulling
open the sacs to display the colours on the skin. Why these three colours? Because these are the colours the
light reflects at the depths they live in (the rest is absorbed before it reaches those depths). . . .
Well, what about other colours? Cue the iridophores. Think of a second level of skin that has thin stacks of
cells. These can reflect light back at different wavelengths. . . . It’s using the same properties that we’ve
seen in hologram stickers, or rainbows on puddles of oil. You move your head and you see a different colour.
The sticker isn’t doing anything but reflecting light - it’s your movement that’s changing the appearance of
the colour. This property of holograms, oil and other such surfaces is called “iridescence”. . . .
Papillae are sections of the skin that can be deformed to make a texture bumpy. Even humans possess
them (goosebumps) but cannot use them in the manner that cephalopods can. For instance, the use of
these cells is how an octopus can wrap itself over a rock and appear jagged or how a squid or cuttlefish can
imitate the look of a coral reef by growing miniature towers on its skin. It actually matches the texture of the
substrate it chooses.
Finally, the leucophores: According to a paper, published in Nature, cuttlefish and octopuses possess an
additional type of reflector cell called a leucophore. They are cells that scatter full spectrum light so that
they appear white in a similar way that a polar bear’s fur appears white. Leucophores will also reflect any
filtered light shown on them . . . If the water appears blue at a certain depth, the octopuses and cuttlefish
can appear blue; if the water appears green, they appear green, and so on and so forth. Based on the passage, we can infer that all of the following statements, if true, would weaken the
camouflaging adeptness of Cephalopods EXCEPT:
A. the number of chromatophores in Cephalopods is half the number of iridophores and leucophores.
B. the temperature of water at the depths at which Cephalopods reside renders the transmission of neural signals difficult.
C. light reflects the colours red, green, and yellow at the depths at which Cephalopods reside.
D. the hydrostatic pressure at the depths at which Cephalopods reside renders radial muscle movements difficult.
Detailed Analysis:
Let us evaluate the choices individually:
Option A: [the number of chromatophores in Cephalopods is half the number of iridophores and
leucophores] If true, this does not undermine the camouflaging adeptness of Cephalopods primarily
because each of chromatophores, iridophores and leucophores have specific [somewhat independent] roles
to play and it is unclear how their quantity would directly impact the camouflaging capacity. Even if the
number of chromatophores is fewer than the other types, the octopus can still maintain its camouflaging
adeptness.
Option B: [the temperature of water at the depths at which Cephalopods reside renders the transmission of
neural signals difficult.] If true, this would limit the camouflaging adeptness primarily because the
underlying mechanism is being restricted/impacted. {When the cephalopod wants to change colour, the
brain carries an electrical impulse through the nerve to the muscles that expand outwards, pulling open the
sacs to display the colours on the skin.}
Option C: [light reflects the colours red, green, and yellow at the depths at which Cephalopods reside. ] If
true, this would limit the camouflaging adeptness primarily because the underlying mechanism is being
restricted/impacted. If the colour scheme is distinct, it would undermine the observations presented
below: {[Chromatophores] are organs on their bodies that contain pigment sacs, which have red, yellow and
brown pigment granules...Why these three colours? Because these are the colours the light reflects at the
depths they live in (the rest is absorbed before it reaches those depths)}
Option D: [the hydrostatic pressure at the depths at which Cephalopods reside renders radial muscle
movements difficult.] If true, this would limit the camouflaging adeptness primarily because the underlying
mechanism is being restricted/impacted. {These sacs have a network of radial muscles, meaning muscles
arranged in a circle radiating outwards.}
Hence, Option A is the correct choice.
Q.3 The passage below is accompanied by a set of questions. Choose the best answer to each question.
When we teach engineering problems now, we ask students to come to a single “best” solution defined by technical ideals like low cost, speed to build, and ability to scale. This way of teaching primes students to
believe that their decision-making is purely objective, as it is grounded in math and science. This is known as
technical-social dualism, the idea that the technical and social dimensions of engineering problems are
readily separable and remain distinct throughout the problem-definition and solution process.
Nontechnical parameters such as access to a technology, cultural relevancy or potential harms are deemed
political and invalid in this way of learning. But those technical ideals are at their core social and political
choices determined by a dominant culture focused on economic growth for the most privileged segments of
society. By choosing to downplay public welfare as a critical parameter for engineering design, we risk
creating a culture of disengagement from societal concerns amongst engineers that is antithetical to the
ethical code of engineering.
In my field of medical devices, ignoring social dimensions has real consequences. . . . Most FDA-approved
drugs are incorrectly dosed for people assigned female at birth, leading to unexpected adverse reactions.
This is because they have been inadequately represented in clinical trials.
Beyond physical failings, subjective beliefs treated as facts by those in decision-making roles can encode
social inequities. For example, spirometers, routinely used devices that measure lung capacity, still have
correction factors that automatically assume smaller lung capacity in Black and Asian individuals. These
racially based adjustments are derived from research done by eugenicists who thought these racial
differences were biologically determined and who considered nonwhite people as inferior. These machines
ignore the influence of social and environmental factors on lung capacity.
Many technologies for systemically marginalized people have not been built because they were not deemed
important such as better early diagnostics and treatment for diseases like endometriosis, a disease that
afflicts 10 percent of people with uteruses. And we hardly question whether devices are built sustainably,
which has led to a crisis of medical waste and health care accounting for 10 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas
emissions.
Social justice must be made core to the way engineers are trained. Some universities are working on this. . .
. Engineers taught this way will be prepared to think critically about what problems we choose to solve, how
we do so responsibly and how we build teams that challenge our ways of thinking.
Individual engineering professors are also working to embed societal needs in their pedagogy. Darshan
Karwat at the University of Arizona developed activist engineering to challenge engineers to acknowledge
their full moral and social responsibility through practical self-reflection. Khalid Kadir at the University of
California, Berkeley, created the popular course Engineering, Environment, and Society that teaches
engineers how to engage in place-based knowledge, an understanding of the people, context and history, to
design better technical approaches in collaboration with communities. When we design and build with equity
and justice in mind, we craft better solutions that respond to the complexities of entrenched systemic
problems. We can infer that the author would approve of a more evolved engineering pedagogy that includes all
of the following EXCEPT:
A. making considerations of environmental sustainability intrinsic to the development of technological solutions.
B. a more responsible approach to technical design and problem-solving than a focus on speed in developing and bringing to scale.
C. design that is based on the needs of communities using local knowledge and responding to local priorities.
D. moving towards technical-social dualism where social community needs are incorporated in problem-definition and solutions.
Detailed Analysis:
Based on the passage, it is likely that the author would approve of all of the options except for Option D,
which is moving towards technical-social dualism. Technical-social dualism is described in the passage as
the idea that the technical and social dimensions of engineering problems are readily separable and remain
distinct throughout the problem-definition and solution process. The passage criticizes this approach,
arguing that it ignores the social dimensions of engineering problems and leads to a focus on technical
ideals such as cost and efficiency at the expense of broader societal concerns. Therefore, it is unlikely that
the author would approve of moving towards technical-social dualism.
Option A is likely to be included because the passage mentions the need for engineers to be aware of the
potential impacts of their work on different groups of people, including the environment. It is suggested that
ignoring these factors can result in technologies that are not sustainable, which can contribute to a crisis of
medical waste and health care, accounting for 10% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.
Option B is likely to be included because the passage discusses the consequences of ignoring social
dimensions in engineering, such as physical failures and the perpetuation of social inequities. It suggests
that a more responsible approach to technical design and problem-solving would consider the full range of
stakeholders and the potential impacts of a technology on different groups of people.
Option C is likely to be included because the passage emphasizes the importance of considering social
justice in engineering education and practice. It mentions courses focusing on place-based knowledge and
community engagement as examples of efforts to incorporate social justice into engineering education.
Such an approach would involve designing technologies that are responsive to the needs of communities,
using local knowledge and taking into account local priorities.
Hence, Option D is the correct choice.
Q.4 All of the following are examples of the negative outcomes of focusing on technical ideals in the
medical sphere EXCEPT the:
A. neglect of research and development of medical technologies for the diagnosis and treatment of diseases that typically afflict marginalised communities.
B. continuing calibration of medical devices based on past racial biases that have remained unadjusted for changes.
C. exclusion of non-privileged groups in clinical trials which leads to incorrect drug dosages
D. incorrect assignment of people as female at birth which has resulted in faulty drug interventions.
Detailed Analysis:
Option D is not mentioned in the passage as a negative outcome of focusing on technical ideals in the
medical sphere. The passage specifically mentions that "most FDA-approved drugs are incorrectly dosed for
people assigned female at birth, leading to unexpected adverse reactions. This is because they have been
inadequately represented in clinical trials," which suggests that the incorrect dosing of drugs for people
assigned female at birth is a consequence of inadequate representation in clinical trials, rather than a result
of focusing on technical ideals.
The other options are all mentioned in the passage as negative outcomes of focusing on technical ideals in
the medical sphere. Option A refers to the passage's mention of the lack of technologies for "systemically
marginalized people" such as those with endometriosis. Option B relates to the discussion on spirometers
that have correction factors that assume smaller lung capacity in Black and Asian individuals based on
research by eugenicists. Option C is tied to the discussion on "most FDA-approved drugs" being incorrectly
dosed for people assigned female at birth due to inadequate representation in clinical trials.
Hence, Option D is the correct choice.
Q.5 In this passage, the author is making the claim that:
A. the objective of best solutions in engineering has shifted the focus of pedagogy from humanism and social obligations to technological perfection.
B. engineering students today are taught to focus on objective technical outcomes, independent of the social dimensions of their work.
C. engineering students today are trained to be non-subjective in their reasoning as this best enables them to develop much-needed universal solutions.
D. technical-social dualism has emerged as a technique for engineering students to incorporate social considerations into their technical problem-solving processes.
Detailed Analysis:
The passage discusses the concept of technical-social dualism, which separates the technical and social
dimensions of engineering problems and can result in a focus on technical ideals such as cost and
efficiency at the expense of broader societal concerns. The passage states that this way of teaching "primes
students to believe that their decision-making is purely objective, as it is grounded in math and science" and
that "nontechnical parameters such as access to a technology, cultural relevancy or potential harms are
deemed political and invalid." These statements support the claim that engineering students are taught to
focus on objective technical outcomes, independent of the social dimensions of their work. Option B best
captures the above understanding. The other answer choices do not accurately reflect the content or the
main argument of the passage.
Q.6 The author gives all of the following reasons for why marginalised people are systematically
discriminated against in technology-related interventions EXCEPT:
A. “But those technical ideals are at their core social and political choices determined by a dominant culture focused on economic growth for the most privileged segments of society.”
B. “And we hardly question whether devices are built sustainably, which has led to a crisis of medical waste and health care accounting for 10 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.”
C. “These racially based adjustments are derived from research done by eugenicists who thought these racial differences were biologically determined and who considered nonwhite people as inferio
D. “Beyond physical failings, subjective beliefs treated as facts by those in decision-making roles can encode social inequities.”
Detailed Analysis:
Option A: [Correct] The passage states that technical ideals, such as cost and efficiency, are often
determined by a dominant culture that prioritizes economic growth for the most privileged segments of
society. This can result in technologies and interventions that are not designed with the needs and concerns
of marginalized groups in mind, leading to systemic discrimination against these groups.
Option B: [Incorrect] The passage does not mention anything about sustainability or medical waste
contributing to greenhouse gas emissions as a reason for the systematic discrimination of marginalized
people in technology-related interventions.
Option C: [Correct] The passage mentions that certain technologies, such as spirometers, have correction
factors that assume smaller lung capacity in Black and Asian individuals based on research by eugenicists
who believed in racial hierarchies and considered nonwhite people as inferior. This is an example of how
subjective beliefs can be treated as facts and encoded into technologies, leading to social inequities.
Option D: [Correct] The passage discusses how subjective beliefs treated as facts by those in decisionmaking
roles can result in physical failures, such as incorrect dosing of drugs for people assigned female at
birth, and also encode social inequities, such as the correction factors on spirometers that assume smaller
lung capacity in Black and Asian individuals.
Hence, Option B is the correct choice.
Q.7 Humans today make music. Think beyond all the qualifications that might trail after this bald statement: that
only certain humans make music, that extensive training is involved, that many societies distinguish musical
specialists from nonmusicians, that in today’s societies most listen to music rather than making it, and so
forth. These qualifications, whatever their local merit, are moot in the face of the overarching truth that
making music, considered from a cognitive and psychological vantage, is the province of all those who
perceive and experience what is made. We are, almost all of us, musicians — everyone who can entrain (not
necessarily dance) to a beat, who can recognize a repeated tune (not necessarily sing it), who can
distinguish one instrument or one singing voice from another. I will often use an antique word, recently
revived, to name this broader musical experience. Humans are musicking creatures. . . .
The set of capacities that enables musicking is a principal marker of modern humanity. There is nothing
polemical in this assertion except a certain insistence, which will figure often in what follows, that musicking
be included in our thinking about fundamental human commonalities. Capacities involved in musicking are
many and take shape in complicated ways, arising from innate dispositions . . . Most of these capacities
overlap with nonmusical ones, though a few may be distinct and dedicated to musical perception and
production. In the area of overlap, linguistic capacities seem to be particularly important, and humans are (in
principle) language-makers in addition to music-makers — speaking creatures as well as musicking ones.
Humans are symbol-makers too, a feature tightly bound up with language, not so tightly with music. The
species Cassirer dubbed Homo symbolicus cannot help but tangle musicking in webs of symbolic thought
and expression, habitually making it a component of behavioral complexes that form such expression. But
in fundamental features musicking is neither language-like nor symbol-like, and from these differences
come many clues to its ancient emergence.
If musicking is a primary, shared trait of modern humans, then to describe its emergence must be to detail
the coalescing of that modernity. This took place, archaeologists are clear, over a very long durée: at least
50,000 years or so, more likely something closer to 200,000, depending in part on what that coalescence is
taken to comprise. If we look back 20,000 years, a small portion of this long period, we reach the lives of
humans whose musical capacities were probably little different from our own. As we look farther back we
reach horizons where this similarity can no longer hold — perhaps 40,000 years ago, perhaps 70,000,
perhaps 100,000. But we never cross a line before which all the cognitive capacities recruited in modern
musicking abruptly disappear. Unless we embrace the incredible notion that music sprang forth in full-blown
glory, its emergence will have to be tracked in gradualist terms across a long period.
This is one general feature of a history of music’s emergence . . . The history was at once sociocultural and
biological . . . The capacities recruited in musicking are many, so describing its emergence involves
following several or many separate strands.
Which one of the following sets of terms best serves as keywords to the passage?
A. Musicking; Cognitive psychology; Antique; Symbol-makers; Modernity.
B. Humans; Capacities; Language; Symbols; Modernity.
C. Humans; Musicking; Linguistic capacities; Symbol-making; Modern humanity.
D. Humans; Psychological vantage; Musicking; Cassirer; Emergence of music.
Detailed Analysis:
The passage is about the idea that making music is a fundamental and universal aspect of the human
experience, and that it has a long history that is both sociocultural and biological in nature. The author
suggests that the capacity for musicking, or making music, is innate in humans and is closely related to
other capacities such as language and symbol-making. The author also acknowledges that there are
variations in how musical capacities are expressed and developed among different cultures, but maintains
that all humans possess these capacities to some extent. The author suggests that the emergence of music
can be traced back to at least 50,000 years ago, and that it likely developed gradually over a longer period of
time. The author also notes that the emergence of music involved the recruitment of many cognitive
capacities, and that understanding this process involves following multiple strands. In this regard, Option C
includes all the keywords central to the discussion.
The other choices do not include all of the relevant terms. Option A includes some of the terms mentioned in
the passage, but omits important ones, such as humans and modern humanity. Option B includes humans
and capacities but omits important terms such as musicking and symbol-making. Option D includes humans
and the emergence of music but omits important terms such as musicking and linguistic capacities.
Hence, Option C is the correct choice.
Q.8 “Think beyond all the qualifications that might trail after this bald statement . . .” In the context of the
passage, what is the author trying to communicate in this quoted extract?
A. A bald statement is one that is trailed by a series of qualifying clarifications and caveats.
B. A bald statement is one that requires no qualifications to infer its meaning.
C. Although there may be many caveats and other considerations, the statement is essentially true.
D. Thinking beyond qualifications allows us to give free reign to musical expressions.
Detailed Analysis:
In this context, the author is trying to communicate that although there may be various qualifications and
considerations that might trail after the statement that "humans today make music," the statement is
fundamentally true. The author suggests that almost all humans are musicians to some extent, and that the
capacity for making music is a fundamental aspect of the human experience. The author is urging readers
to consider this statement without getting bogged down in the various qualifications and considerations
that might be attached to it, and to recognize its underlying truth. Option C aptly captures this idea.
Option A: [Incorrect] The phrase "trail after" does not necessarily imply that a bald statement is followed by a
series of qualifying clarifications and caveats. Rather, it simply means that something follows after
something else. In this case, the author is suggesting that there may be various qualifications and
considerations that follow after the statement that "humans today make music," but is not implying that the
statement itself is trailed by a series of clarifications and caveats.
Option B: [Incorrect] The phrase "bald statement" does not necessarily imply that a statement requires no
qualifications to infer its meaning. Rather, it simply means that the statement is presented in a
straightforward and unembellished way. In this case, the author is suggesting that the statement that
"humans today make music" is presented in a bald and straightforward way, but is not implying that the
statement itself requires no qualifications or considerations.
Option D: [Incorrect] The phrase "give free reign to" does not accurately describe the author's intention in this
context. The author is not suggesting that readers should allow musical expressions to be unrestricted or
uncontrolled, but rather that they should consider the statement that "humans today make music" without
getting bogged down in various qualifications and considerations.
Hence, Option C is the correct choice.
Q.9 Based on the passage, which one of the following statements is a valid argument about the
emergence of music/musicking?
A. Anyone who can perceive and experience music must be considered capable of musicking.
B. Although musicking is not language-like, it shares the quality of being a form of expression.
C. 20,000 years ago, human musical capacities were not very different from what they are today.
D. All musical work is located in the overlap between linguistic capacity and music production.
Detailed Analysis:
Option A: This is incorrect because it overgeneralizes the ideas presented in the passage. The passage does
not state that all humans are musicians or capable of musicking, only that making music is a universal
aspect of the human experience and that the capacity for musicking is innate in humans.
Option B: The passage does state that musicking is a form of expression, but there is no discussion
supporting the claim "musicking is not language-like." Thus, we can eliminate this choice.
Option C: The passage states - {"...if we look back 20,000 years, a small portion of this long period, we reach
the lives of humans whose musical capacities were probably little different from our own..."} This suggests
that the musical capacities of humans 20,000 years ago were not significantly different from those of
humans today.
Option D: This is not supported by the passage. The passage does not state that all musical work is located
in the overlap between linguistic capacity and music production. In fact, the passage states that "most of
these capacities overlap with nonmusical ones, though a few may be distinct and dedicated to musical
perception and production," suggesting that there are some capacities specifically dedicated to musical
perception and production that do not overlap with nonmusical ones.
Hence, the correct answer is Option C.
Q.10 Which one of the following statements, if true, would weaken the author’s claim that humans are
musicking creatures?
A. Nonmusical capacities are of far greater consequence to human survival than the capacity for music.
B. From a cognitive and psychological vantage, musicking arises from unconscious dispositions, not conscious ones.
C. As musicking is neither language-like nor symbol-like, it is a much older form of expression.
D. Musical capacities are primarily socio-cultural, which explains the wide diversity of musical forms.
Detailed Analysis:
Option A: [Nonmusical capacities are of far greater consequence to human survival than the capacity for
music.] It is unclear how this ties into the discussion since the survival aspect is not touched upon or implied
in the passage. Thus, the claim, if true, does little to undermine the author's claim that humans are
musicking creatures.
Option B: [From a cognitive and psychological vantage, musicking arises from unconscious dispositions,
not conscious ones.] This does not weaken the author's claim that musicking is a universal aspect of the
human experience - while the author does suggest that musicking arises from innate dispositions, the fact
that these dispositions may be unconscious rather than conscious does not weaken the overall argument.
Option C: [As musicking is neither language-like nor symbol-like, it is a much older form of expression. ]
This, again, does not contradict the author's claim in the passage. Though the author suggests that
musicking is distinct from language and symbol-making, this does not necessarily mean that it is a much
older form of expression. In fact, the author notes that the emergence of musicking can be traced back to at
least 50,000 years ago, which is relatively recent in evolutionary terms. Even if this were true, it does not
undermine the author's claim.
Option D: [Musical capacities are primarily socio-cultural, which explains the wide diversity of musical
forms.] If true, this directly contradicts the author's claim that musicking is a universal aspect of the human
experience. The author argues that the capacity for musicking is innate in all humans and that it has a long
history that is both sociocultural and biological in nature. However, if musical capacities are primarily sociocultural,
as suggested in Option D, this would mean that musicking is largely shaped by cultural and social
factors rather than being a fundamental aspect of the human experience. This would greatly weaken the
author's overall argument that all humans are musicking creatures. Hence, Option D is the correct choice.
