Self-paced
Why are violins made by Stradivarius in the early 1700s far superior to most other violins. ████ ███████ ███████ ██████ ██████████ ███ █████ ██ ██ ████████ ███ █████ ████████ ██████████████ ████ █████ ████ ██ ███ █████ ███ █████ █████ ███████ ████████ ██ ███ ██████ ██ █████ █████ ████████████ ██████ ████████ ████ ██████ ██ ███████ ████ ████ ███████ ████████ ███████████ ██████████ ██ ██ ██████ ████ ████████
Summary
Violins made by Stradivarius in the early 1700s are superior to most other violins. Some experts say this is because of secret varnishes, but this claim has no evidence. Climatologists found that in the 1600s and early 1700s, weather patterns where Stradivarius worked produced tree growth with special acoustic properties.
Strongly Supported Conclusions
The weather patterns where Stradivarius worked probably contribute to the quality of the violins. The special properties of the wood used are probably part of the reason for Stradivarius violin’s superior quality.
24.
Which one of the following ████ █████████ █████████ ███ █████████
a
some other Italian ██████ ██████ ██ ███ █████ █████ ████████ ███████ ████ ███████ ███ ███████ ██ ████████████ ███████
This is unsupported because we don’t know if anyone else was making violins using the same wood Stradivarius used, nor do we know if the wood alone would make the violins of equal quality.
b
Stradivarius was the ████ ██████ █████ ██ ███ █████ █████ ██ ███ ███ ████ ████████ ██ ████ ████ ██ █████
This is unsupported because there may have been several violin makers working in the same area as Stradivarius at the time.
c
no violin made ████ ███████████ █████████ █████ █████ █ ████████████ ██████ ███ █████ ███████
This is unsupported because we don’t know if any present-day wood may have the same acoustic qualities as the wood Stradivarius happened to use. Even if there isn’t, it is possible modern techniques make up for the difference in wood quality to produce equal sound quality.
d
the special qualities ██ ████████████ ███████ ███ ███ ██ ████ ██ ███ ████ ████ ██ ████ ████
This is strongly supported because we know that Stradivarius violins are superior to most other violins and that Stradivarius had access to a type of wood with superior acoustic qualities.
e
Stradivarius did not ██████ ███ ██████ ██████████ ██ ██████ ███ ███████
This is unsupported because our knowledge of Stradivarius is limited to the facts that he had no special varnishes and had special wood. The stimulus engages in no discussion of manufacturing techniques, so this answer could be false.