Read the passage given below and then answer the questions given below the…
2025
Read the passage given below and then answer the questions given below the passage. Some words may be highlighted for your attention. Pay careful attention.
Although the twentieth century saw the rise of women as professional musicians, the majority of composers and performers were, and still are, men. The music industry in the U.S. and Britain overwhelmingly reflects the values of a patriarchal society; the success or failure of a female artist is based largely on her physical appearance and gendered performance style. Blues, rock, and pop began as genres dominated by men, and thus included styles of dress, lyrics, and sound born of a male perspective. The history of these genres, then, is also a history of women seeking to locate their space within a predominately masculine musical environment.
Women are always judged, in part, on their image, and it is through the manipulation of this image that some women artists have been able to push the boundaries of gender identity. Women have been able to enter popular genres of music either by playing with the aesthetics of masculinity, or by playing into a male expectation of femininity. Sexuality, therefore, is a tool women continue to use to shape and reshape their place within popular music.
Pushing boundaries is a balancing act, however, and a contradictory process. In order to gain access to the world of popular music, a female artist must at once be pleasing her audience, and, at the same time, remain true to herself as a woman. A desire to be too much “one of the guys” can lead to identity problems and ultimately to self-destruction. An artist's use of irony or parody may run the risk of being mistaken for genuineness, causing her to be objectified. Working within the limits of popular music has proven difficult and dangerous for women. But due to the professionalism and inventiveness of many female performers, the space for women in popular music is being expanded and redefined.
Females are not naturally inclined as popular musicians.
According to the passage, which of the following best explains why this belief has persisted?
- A.
Outward appearances of a female artist are held to be the reasons for her success or failure.
- B.
Whether a female artist succeeds or not depends mainly on the way she dresses, regardless of her talent.
- C.
Males have always given due respect to talented female artistes.
- D.
Less talented female artistes take resort to dressing up in flashy costumes in order to succeed.
Attempted by 2 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B
Concept: In an inference or assumption-based reading-comprehension question, an option that merely restates a fact already given in the passage does not, by itself, count as an explanation — the question asks WHY a belief persists, so the correct option must supply the causal link connecting the passage's stated fact to that belief, not simply repeat the fact.
Application: The passage names physical appearance and gendered performance style — not musical ability — as what success or failure is based on. It never states that talent plays any role in the outcome. Reading this omission at face value, a female artist's success or failure is decided without reference to her actual talent; her musical ability is therefore never actually put to the test by the outcome. That is precisely the mechanism that would let the belief in the stem — that women are not naturally inclined toward music — survive unexamined, since real evidence of talent (via success or failure) never surfaces either way.
Contrast with the other options:
“Outward appearances... are held to be the reasons for her success or failure” repeats the passage's stated fact about appearance and outcome, but a repeated fact is not itself a causal explanation for why the stem's belief would take hold — it does not say anything about how talent relates to that outcome.
“Males have always given due respect to talented female artistes” directly contradicts the passage, which describes an industry shaped by patriarchal values and appearance-based judgment, not one where female talent has always been respected.
“Less talented female artistes take resort to dressing up in flashy costumes in order to succeed” is not supported: the passage describes appearance-based judgment as a general condition affecting a female artist's success or failure regardless of her skill level; it never limits dressing-based tactics to artists who are “less talented”.
Result: The passage's own account bases outcome on appearance and style while never invoking talent — treating that outcome as holding “regardless of talent” is the inference that actually accounts for why the belief that women are not naturally inclined toward popular music has persisted.