ACT
Practice Test 3

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DIRECTIONS: Each passage is followed by several questions. After reading a passage, choose the best answer to each question and fill in the corresponding oval on your answer document. You may refer to the passages as often as necessary.

HUMANITIES:
The following passage is adapted from the article "Conquering Jazz" by Patrick Tyrrell (© 2006 by Patrick Tyrrell).

From the time I started playing instruments, I have been intrigued and slightly mystified by the world of jazz. I'm not talking about adventurous, atonal, confusing jazz that normal music listeners have a hard time following. I'm talking about the lively,
Line 5 accessible, beautiful jazz that came of age in the swinging 1920s and 1930s: the simultaneously hip and regal symphonic swing of Duke Ellington and Count Basie; the carnival of contrapuntal melodies that inexplicably harmonize with each other in New Orleans jazz; the buoyant, atmosphere-touching saxophone solos
10 of Charlie Parker and the young John Coltrane.
The one thing I had always heard about jazz but could never accept was that jazz was an improvised form of music. How could this be?
The trademark of beautiful jazz is the complexity of the
15 music. All the instrumentalists are capable of dizzying arrays of notes and rhythms. The soloists find seemingly impossible transitions from one phrase to the next that are so perfect one would think they had spent weeks trying to devise just the right route to conduct safe passage. To think they spontaneously craft
20 these ideas seems preposterous.
My first nervous jabs into the world of jazz came during college. I was in a rock band, but my fellow guitarist and bandmate, Victor, also played in a jazz ensemble. At our practices, I would sometimes show off a new chord I had just "invented" only to
25 have him calmly and confidently name it, "Oh, you mean C-sharp diminished?" Often, in between our band's simplistic rock songs, I would look over and see him playing chord shapes on his guitar I had never seen before. Were we playing the same instrument? Of course, rock music, as well as most early classical
30 music, operates within a much simpler harmonic World than does jazz. There are 12 tones in Western music: A-flat, A, B-flat, B, C, D-flat, D, E-flat, E, F, G-flat, and G. There are major chords, which sound happy, and minor chords, which sound sad. Essentially, rock music requires only that you learn the major and
35 minor chord for each of the 12 tones. If you do, you can play 99 percent of all the popular radio songs from the 1950s onward. Jazz uses the same twelve tones as do rock and classical, but itemploys a much more robust variety of chords. Major sevenths, augmented fifths, flat ninths, and diminished chords all add to
40 the depth and detail of the music. These often bizarre-sounding chords toss in subtle hints of chaos and imbalance, adding a worldly imperfection to otherwise standard chord values. Jazz starts sounding better the older you get, just as candy starts tasting too sweet and a bit of bitterness makes for a more appealing flavor.
45 For the most part, Victor's elliptical personality prevented him from ever giving me straightforward explanations when I asked him to divulge the "magician's secrets" of jazz. But I did learn that jazz is only partly improvised. The musicians aren't inventing the structure of songs spontaneously, just the specific
50 details and embellishments. A sheet of jazz music doesn't look like a sheet of classical music. There aren't notes all over the page dictating the "ideas." There are just chord names spaced out over time, dictating the "topic of conversation."
There's a legendary book in the jazz world known as "The
55 Real Book." It's a collection of a few hundred classic songs. Open it up in any room full of jazz musicians, and they could play in synchrony for a week. For years, I wanted my own copy, but I had always been too afraid to buy it, afraid that I wouldn't know how to use the book once I had it. Then, at age 30, more
60 than a decade since Victor and I had gone our separate ways, I bought myself a copy. I resolved to learn how to play all the chords on guitar and piano. For the next few months, I quietly plucked away at these strange, new combinations. F-sharp minor-7 flat-5' Each chord was a cryptic message I had to decode and
65 then understand. It felt like being dropped off alone in a country where I didn't speak the language. But I made progress. Chords that initially took me twenty seconds to figure out started to take only a few. My left hand was becoming comfortable in its role of supplying my right hand
70 with a steady bass line. Meanwhile, to my amazement, my right hand began to improvise melodies that sounded undeniably jazzy.It seemed like the hard work of figuring out the exotic jazz chords had sent new melodic understanding straight to my hand, bypassing my brain entirely. I felt like a witness to performances
75 by detached hands; I couldn't believe that I was the one creating these sounds. I'm sure this feeling will not last, but for now I'm enjoying the rare and miraculous feeling of improvising music that I still consider beyond my abilities.

1. Which chord, if any, does the author eventually conclude is the most confusing jazz chord to play?

  • Solution

    Correct Answer: A
    Explanation:
    Choice (A) is correct because, although the author discusses having great difficulty and confusion in learning jazz chords, he does not ever identify one that is most confusing. Choices (B), (C), and (D) are incorrect because none of the chords are ever identified as the most confusing chords.

2. As it is used in line 47, “magician’s secrets” most nearly means:

  • Solution

    Correct Answer: F
    Explanation:
    In the context of the passage as a whole, the author discusses Victor as a source of knowledge about jazz. The author states he did not get straightforward explanations from Victor but that he did learn some things. Choice (F) is correct because, given the context of the passage, it refers to the most likely subject matter the author would be trying to get from Victor. Choice (G) is incorrect because the idea that knowledge about jazz would be forbidden is too strong. There is no evidence that the author was being purposefully excluded from learning about jazz. Choice (H) is incorrect because there is no context to support the idea that the author was asking about literal magic tricks. Choice (J) is incorrect because there is no context to support the idea that the author was trying to learn more about Victor as a person, nor does the passage ever describe Victor as private.

3. As portrayed by the author, Victor responds to the author’s invented chord with what is best described as:

  • Solution

    Correct Answer: D
    Explanation:
    Upon seeing the author's invented chord, Victor calmly informs the author of the chord's proper name. Choice (D) is correct because nonchalance indicates a relaxed, unimpressed manner, which is how Victor responds. Choice (A) is incorrect because Victor would not be amazed by a chord for which he already knows the technical name. Choice (B) is incorrect because Victor would not be jealous that the author could play a chord that was already familiar to Victor. Choice (C) is incorrect because Victor does not show confusion; he shows immediate recognition of what chord the author is playing.

4. The author states that “The Real Book” was something he explored for a few:

  • Solution

    Correct Answer: G
    Explanation:
    In the eighth paragraph, the author states that for the next few months, I quietly plucked away at the music found in "The Real Book." Hence, choice (G) is correct and choices (F), (H), and (J) are incorrect.

5. The details in lines 40-44 primarily serve to suggest the:

  • Solution

    Correct Answer: A
    Explanation:
    The passage describes the more complex chord types of jazz and describes the effects of using them as introducing subtle hints of chaos and imbalance, adding a worldly imperfection, and becoming more enjoyable as one's age starts making things like candy taste too sweet and "imperfections" like bitterness make for a more appealing flavor. Choice (A) provides the best summary for these ideas. Choice (B) is incorrect because the description of jazz's complexity is not intended to be a critical comment about fundamental flaws in rock and classical music. Just because jazz's unique chords add detail and depth to the music, that doesn't mean the author thinks that other styles of music necessarily lack detail and depth. Choice (C) is incorrect because the passage does not specify anything about the confusion and awkwardness of standard jazz chord values; it describes what elements jazz chords add to standard chord values.

6. In the context of the passage, the author’s statement in lines 68-71 most nearly means that:

  • Solution

    Correct Answer: J
    Explanation:
    The end of the passage describes the author beginning to develop an ability to play jazz, but his newfound ability is still mentally surprising. Choice (J) summarizes this context best and is therefore correct. Choice (F) is incorrect because the passage does not support the idea that the author was overworked. Choice (G) is incorrect because, although the author is surprised by what his hands can do musically, there is no context to support that the author is actually losing the ability to control his hands. Choice (H) is incorrect because there is no information to support the idea that the author pointing at chords was part of his learning process.

7. The author implies that F-sharp minor-7 flat-5 is an example of a chord that he:

  • Solution

    Correct Answer: D
    Explanation:
    Choice (D) is correct because the eighth paragraph describes the author's initial attempts to work through the strange, new combinations he found in "The Real Book." He mentions F-sharp minor-7 flat-5 while speaking of chords that he had to decode and then understand. Choice (A) is incorrect because the context of this paragraph suggests that the author did indeed have some trouble with these unfamiliar chords. Choice (B) is incorrect because the remark about not knowing the language of a foreign country has no literal relation to this specific chord or the author's previous travels (about which we know nothing). Choice (C) is incorrect because the passage provides no evidence that the author knew how to play this chord on guitar.

8. The passage supports which one of the following conclusions about Victor?

  • Solution

    Correct Answer: H
    Explanation:
    The fifth paragraph identifies Victor as a member of the author's rock band as well as a member of a jazz ensemble. This makes choice (H) correct. Choice (F) is incorrect because the passage states that at age 30, it had been over a decade since the author and Victor had gone their separate ways. Choice (G) is incorrect because the passage states that the author bought his own copy of "The Real Book." Choice (J) is incorrect because the passage does not say that Victor invented this chord, rather that he told the author the name of the chord the author presumed to have invented.

9. The passage is best described as being told from the point of view of someone who is:

  • Solution

    Correct Answer: C
    Explanation:
    The passage begins with the author's love for jazz. It transitions into his own experiences learning how to play jazz and culminates with his early successes in doing so. Choice (C) is correct because it encompasses the various points of focus throughout the passage. Choice (A) is incorrect because the passage only occasionally refers to a chain of events and never establishes that the author has a jazz career. Choice (B) is incorrect because the author does not try to show that jazz is uncomplicated; he describes the hard work he put into learning its complexity. Choice (D) is incorrect because the central focus of the passage is the author's learning of jazz. Although the author's friendship with Victor relates to jazz, it is not the central focus of the author's discussion.

10. Assessing his early and later experiences with “The Real Book,” the author most strongly implies that it was:

  • Solution

    Correct Answer: G
    Explanation:
    In the last few paragraphs, the author describes the process by which he struggled to learn jazz. He begins by seeing jazz as a cryptic message to decode but later describes himself as becoming comfortable and possessing a new melodic understanding. These details make choice (G) correct. Choice (F) is incorrect because the author never says that the book becomes annoyingly familiar by the end. Choice (H) is incorrect because the author identifies a difference between jazz sheet music and classical sheet music, but this detail does not enter his discussion of his experiences with "The Real Book." Choice (J) is incorrect because the author has not suggested that he has moved on to other learning tools or more profound study.

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