Tap and Step Dancing: Question Set 4

00:00 Question 1 kicks us off by asking us "You must be able to do this in order to do buck-dancing properly." Now, the passage does have this nice title paragraphs, but realistically you'll want out on your scratch paper such as to give a basic title for each paragraph on your own regardless of whether that's given.

00:20 In any rate, we know that paragraph 2 discusses buck-dancing.

00:24 If you read answer selection D, place the accent on a non-syncopated beats or taps and you are kind of scanning this quickly, you might answer that just for memory of the passage because it seems similar or familiar.

00:38 But keep in mind the test writers love to put answer selections that are the exact opposite of the correct answer selection that kind of trap readers who are reading in this fashion.

00:48 A closer examination of paragraph 2 shows that "buck-dancing is done to syncopated rhythms and you must get the right accent on those syncopated beats." This aligns clearly to answer selection A, get the right accent on syncopated beats or taps.

01:04 Question 2 then goes on to state "in order to do the front tap, how must a dancer swing his or her leg?" Now, this is a very detail-oriented question from a detail-oriented passage.

01:17 And illustrates that comprehension questions can be easy or as difficult as the passage itself.

01:24 It's implied at the start of the final paragraph to swing the lower leg from the knee down, which could maybe leave some wiggle room for other parts of the leg to be moved.

01:34 But then towards the middle of the same paragraph, the passage states "swing the lower leg from the knee back and forth, not the upper leg at all." Ruling out answer selections B through D which in some way imply that the upper leg is being moved.

01:48 Answer selection A, swing the leg front and back from the knee without moving the upper leg is therefore correct.

01:56 Question 3 then goes on to state "Buck-dancing is a form of what kind of dance?" Tap dancing, ballet, folk dancing, ritual dance.

02:05 The first paragraph discusses tap and step dancing and then transitions immediately into a discussion of buck-dancing.

02:12 It's kind of the odd one out because it wasn't, in the name itself, clarified that it's a type of tap dancing but here I like to think of the structure of the text itself kind of implying that the first discussion on tap and step dancing can apply to the subsequent discussion on buck-dancing.

02:28 However, we can also get further context where the passage states that buck-dancing must get the right accent on the syncopated beats or taps which would clearly align to answer selection A, tap dancing.

02:43 Question 4 states "based on the passage, which of the following statements is true?" Here, we kind of need to visualize what's going on in the passage.

02:52 In one part, we have the lower leg from the knee down kind of swinging to the beat.

02:57 Answer choice D states the ability to land with strong locked knees would improve one's tap work is actually explicitly advised against.

03:06 So we can rule that one out while keeping kind of the mental picture of these dances in our head.

03:14 Then we want to look at answer selections A and B.

03:17 A focuses on the abdominal muscles and B focuses on the upper body.

03:23 So, while these would be an asset to the types of dances we discussed, we need to choose the answer choice that would align with the question stem to the greatest degree.

03:33 And answer selection C, flexibility in one's lower leg and ankles would be an asset in terms of tap or buck-dancing, I do think best aligns to the skills that we have discussed for these dance steps.

03:47 Question 5 states "An individual who has difficulty playing the cello in 3/4 timing then changing to 7/8 timing may find tap dancing challenging for what reason?" This question engages your ability to carry out analogical thought.

04:04 You're not looking for the answer selection that has something indirect commonality with the passage, something that talks about 3/4 or 7/8 timing, but you're looking for something where you can kind of operationalize abstract thought in the concrete logic and find some analogy between an answer selection in the question stem.

04:22 B through D kind of referred to the kinetic challenges of music, how the body can quite nearly perform the action, and if you are looking for direct similarity one of those might be tempting.

04:34 But answer selection A, both tap dancing and playing a musical instrument require that one be able to follow and perform to a specific beat or pattern fits well with the idea of changing a rhythm.

04:47 Further note that the answer selection includes the fudge word here "pattern" for those of you who didn't know that 3/4 or 7/8 referred to a beat just illustrating that you really don't need outside knowledge for CARS.

05:00 Our best answer selection therefore is answer choice A.

05:06 We bring this home with question 6 "Based on the passage, which of the following reasons would best support that tap dance is a good activity for someone who wanted to improve leg strength and coordination." And I like to approach this question by seeing which answer choices first positively align with the question stem before I get to the passage and then I'll bring in the context from there.

05:29 Answer choice A is basically a restatement of the question stem.

05:32 So we'll keep it in mind as kind of our first choice that could be correct.

05:38 Something being aerobic for answer choice B could possibly improve these traits so then we can evaluate it per the passage where the aerobic nature of tap dancing was not elaborated. So I think we can rule out B.

05:51 I'm not saying how repetition and practice on the phase would improve strength and coordination, so I think we can safely rule out answer selection C and answer choice D relates counting and tapping which one could make a fair argument that counting refers to coordination and stepping to strength.

06:11 So, without so much as a specific citation, I do think that answer selection A simply jives with a more extensive discussion on how lower leg movements need to be coordinated to successfully tap or step dance whereas D refers to a specific relationship that was maybe given a passing notice if that.

06:35 So we have to go with the answer selection that fits the preponderance of evidence which will be answer selection A.