Question
Section 5: Paired Passages
You will use both the excerpt from "The Piano Shop on the Left Bank" and "Those Old Piano Blues" to answer questions 19-21.
from The Piano Shop on the Left Bank by Thad Carhart
I sat on the bench and smiled at Luc. I was nervous, almost spellbound; suddenly this great impractical hulk was the gateway to a territory from which I had been absent for too long. Something said “Yes!” before I even touched the keyboard. I trusted Luc but I realized, too, that I wanted to love this piano, I wanted to invite music back into my life. I tried a few scales, then some harmonic progressions, and finally, with more certainty, some arpeggios. A thrill that I had not expected ran through me as the notes resounded. The Stingl had a good, clean action, but it took some work to move the keys. None of the vaunted silkiness of the Steinway or the velvet touch of other famous makes; no, this was a profoundly physical undertaking, almost athletic in its requirements. And yet the tone it produced was very sweet and full, a strange and wonderful combination of the robust and the delicate.
“It’s a nice one, no?” Luc was beaming at my very apparent pleasure.
“It’s a nice one, yes! It takes some work, but what a beautiful sound.”
“You’re a big guy, you can play a piano like this properly. Not everyone could.” I wasn’t sure if this was flattery or a dispassionate estimation of my capabilities. A bit of both, no doubt.
This was not just any old piano, Luc assured me. It had been made in Vienna in the thirties at a time when Vienna still had a craftsman’s tradition worthy of the name (only B endorfer remains today), and its clear tone and solid feel suggested a solid pedigree. Never mind its pluck, this had all the marks of a rare find, a fine piano disguised as something simple and dependable. I could imagine it surviving the assaults of my young children, to say nothing of my own.
I laughed inwardly at all these musings; the combination of my vanity and artistic longings, together with the ungainly beauty of the piano itself, struck me as funny and vaguely absurd. I imagined myself flawlessly playing Chopin’s Heroic Polonaise in A-flat at the keyboard of this unassuming instrument, an impossibility that nonetheless appealed to my sense of fantasy. One of the most difficult compositions for the piano, it would never be within my grasp, but the daydream itself was strangely satisfying. What would a visitor from another century think of this notion of personal fulfillment that sought a pedigree in the past? My expression must have reflected the deep sense of irony I was feeling because Luc asked me why I was looking puzzled.
“It’s just occurred to me how much of ourselves we project onto a piano when we consider what we’re going to buy.”
“Ah, but of course, that’s the beauty of a piano. It’s not just another instrument like a flute or a violin that you put away in the closet. You live with it and it with you. It’s big and impossible to ignore, like a member of the family. It’s got to be the right one!”
“And if one were interested, how much would this piano cost?”
“Fifteen thousand francs,” was his unhurried response. “Of course, that includes delivery and tuning.”
I made noises about having to measure my apartment to be sure, but I think that we both knew I was going to buy it. Actually, I think he knew well before I and it puzzles me still to consider how he made that assessment after our brief encounters. But then, we reveal far more of ourselves than we suspect when we enter the bedizened world of our passions and our longings.
I returned two days later, having measured my apartment carefully.
My wife, Simo, was surprised to hear that all my practical arguments in favor of an upright—the cost, the size, the children—had vanished virtually overnight. “What happened to the idea of a small piano?”
I listed all my points in favor of a grand, babbling with enthusiasm as I recited the litany.
She listened silently, gave me a long look that mixed skepticism and understanding, then responded to my fervor with the practical point: “Well, we’d better figure out where your new baby is going to live.”
Together we found a corner between the window and the bookcase that formed an acute angle where the Stingl could be wedged in our apartment’s main room. We adjusted our budget for the price Luc quoted. It was a lot of money, particularly since I was just setting out on a new career path as a freelance writer, but my wife encouraged me to indulge my newfound sense of freedom: “Think of it as an investment in personal expression.”
This time at the atelier I did bring sheet music, and Luc nodded approvingly when he saw me set it on the music stand. I’ve never been comfortable playing in front of others, but somehow this was different; his presence seemed encouraging as we listened together to the particular voice of this instrument among so many other pianos. I played for perhaps ten minutes, pieces I knew reasonably well and could listen to while I sight-read: some Beethoven bagatelles, a few of Schumann’s pieces for children, an early Mozart fantasy. I was not disappointed. The Stingl’s resonance filled the room with tones at once clear and robust, and a sharp sense of pride welled up at the prospect of owning this distinctive piano, of seeing and playing it daily, of living with it. Good God, I thought, this is a kind of love; and, as in love, my senses amplified and enhanced the love object, all with an insouciance and willing enthusiasm.
I finished playing and turned to Luc with what must have been a delighted look on my face.
“I would say that you have found your piano.” His eyes sparkled, the successful matchmaker rejoicing in his skill.
“And I would say that you were right.”
from Those Old Piano Blues by Neil Wertheimer AARP Bulletin October 2017
1 For much of the 20th century, most every self-respecting home in America had a piano. It was the home entertainment system long before the era of electronics; families would play and sing together, or listen to their children’s recitals. The peak year for piano sales was 1909, when Americans bought 364,500 new models. Sales stayed high until the Depression and World War II years, but once the late ’40s arrived, piano sales grew strong and steady again for the next 30 years.
2 Then a slow, downward sales arpeggio1 started. In the late 1970s, “baby boomers began to stop buying new pianos,” says Larry Fine, publisher of Acoustic & Digital Piano Buyer. “Every year, a sales decline. People are doing other things.” In 2016, sales of new acoustic pianos hit a low note of 30,000 units.
3 And as more families like ours downsize or move, used pianos have flooded the market. We discovered that no one wanted our Steinway — for any price, including free. We started with music stores that advertised “top dollar” for used pianos. After sending photos and details, we received only declines; one came with a form letter that rang with bitterness. “Pianos often have a substantial amount of emotional value to their owners, so it can be difficult to accept that many pianos do not have meaningful value on the open market,” it told us. Reasons include a “tremendous oversupply” of pianos, less interest in them as a home furnishing, and the availability of “inexpensive, realistic” digital pianos.
4 The song had gone from major to minor, but we pressed on. None of our friends or relatives wanted it; neither did local churches, schools or charities. Then the song shifted to the saddest of blues. We discovered that the growth area in the business is paying someone to dispose of your old piano. “I’ve seen a boom in the last five years” of people getting rid of their pianos, says Bob Zahtilla at A Thru Z Piano, a company in Cleveland that sells and maintains, but also removes, pianos. He says he handles roughly five piano removals a month. “We tear them down, recycle the metals.”
5 “We get lots of calls from schools and institutions looking to get rid of their pianos,” adds Mike Ripatti at Beethoven Pianos in New York, another business that sells, services and disposes. They gather old pianos in their warehouse and, once they’ve accumulated a dozen or so, bring them to the dump. Disposal prices vary based on weight of the instrument and how treacherous its path to the truck is. Typical, though, is about $300 for an upright.
6 But like many a blues song, this piano riff ends with hope. We finally did find a friend who wants our piano, so his young son can learn to play. And while the day of the home piano is passing, “there’s no decline in piano lessons,” says Natalia Huang, who has piano studios in New York, Los Angeles and Connecticut. “Younger students are brought in to promote a love of music and personal development,” Huang says. “Adult students come in for personal growth and stress relief.”
7 And to be sure, many older pianos have reached their coda.2 “Sometimes, they’re just ready,” Zahtilla notes. A piano’s life span is typically 50 years; at that point, it needs rebuilding if it is to be played as it was meant to. So the pruning of a century’s worth of neglected home pianos might not be such a bad thing, if we continue to cherish the music.
Question 19 (1 point)
In the excerpt from "The Piano Shop on the Left Bank" and the excerpt from the article “Those Old Piano Blues,” with which statement would both authors most likely agree?
Question 19 options:
Old pianos offer a great deal of emotional value to their owners.
Old pianos are constructed from better materials than new pianos.
People can learn a lot about the history of pianos from musicians.
People should learn to play on an acoustic piano before moving to a digital one.
Question 20 (1 point)
While the narrator of the excerpt from The Piano Shop on the Left Bank finds an old Stingl valuable enough for him to spend a lot of money on it, the author of the excerpt from the article “Those Old Piano Blues” —
Question 20 options:
expects to sell an old Steinway for a high price
insists on donating his old piano to a school
gives an old Steinway to someone who wants it
thinks old pianos should be destroyed
Question 21 (1 point)
What is one notable difference between the two excerpts?
Question 21 options:
The selection from "The Piano Shop on the Left Bank" explains why someone wants to play piano, while the selection from th
The selection from "The Piano Shop on the Left Bank" describes evaluating and buying an old piano, while the selection from the article "Those Old Piano Blues" describes an abundance of unwanted old pianos.
The selection from "The Piano Shop on the Left Bank" emphasizes the craftsmanship of a new acoustic piano, while the selection from the article "Those Old Piano Blues" emphasizes today's preference for digital pianos.
The selection from "The Piano Shop on the Left Bank" shows how rare it is for someone to appreciate an old piano, while the selection from the article "Those Old Piano Blues" shows how people overvalue all musical instruments.
You will use both the excerpt from "The Piano Shop on the Left Bank" and "Those Old Piano Blues" to answer questions 19-21.
from The Piano Shop on the Left Bank by Thad Carhart
I sat on the bench and smiled at Luc. I was nervous, almost spellbound; suddenly this great impractical hulk was the gateway to a territory from which I had been absent for too long. Something said “Yes!” before I even touched the keyboard. I trusted Luc but I realized, too, that I wanted to love this piano, I wanted to invite music back into my life. I tried a few scales, then some harmonic progressions, and finally, with more certainty, some arpeggios. A thrill that I had not expected ran through me as the notes resounded. The Stingl had a good, clean action, but it took some work to move the keys. None of the vaunted silkiness of the Steinway or the velvet touch of other famous makes; no, this was a profoundly physical undertaking, almost athletic in its requirements. And yet the tone it produced was very sweet and full, a strange and wonderful combination of the robust and the delicate.
“It’s a nice one, no?” Luc was beaming at my very apparent pleasure.
“It’s a nice one, yes! It takes some work, but what a beautiful sound.”
“You’re a big guy, you can play a piano like this properly. Not everyone could.” I wasn’t sure if this was flattery or a dispassionate estimation of my capabilities. A bit of both, no doubt.
This was not just any old piano, Luc assured me. It had been made in Vienna in the thirties at a time when Vienna still had a craftsman’s tradition worthy of the name (only B endorfer remains today), and its clear tone and solid feel suggested a solid pedigree. Never mind its pluck, this had all the marks of a rare find, a fine piano disguised as something simple and dependable. I could imagine it surviving the assaults of my young children, to say nothing of my own.
I laughed inwardly at all these musings; the combination of my vanity and artistic longings, together with the ungainly beauty of the piano itself, struck me as funny and vaguely absurd. I imagined myself flawlessly playing Chopin’s Heroic Polonaise in A-flat at the keyboard of this unassuming instrument, an impossibility that nonetheless appealed to my sense of fantasy. One of the most difficult compositions for the piano, it would never be within my grasp, but the daydream itself was strangely satisfying. What would a visitor from another century think of this notion of personal fulfillment that sought a pedigree in the past? My expression must have reflected the deep sense of irony I was feeling because Luc asked me why I was looking puzzled.
“It’s just occurred to me how much of ourselves we project onto a piano when we consider what we’re going to buy.”
“Ah, but of course, that’s the beauty of a piano. It’s not just another instrument like a flute or a violin that you put away in the closet. You live with it and it with you. It’s big and impossible to ignore, like a member of the family. It’s got to be the right one!”
“And if one were interested, how much would this piano cost?”
“Fifteen thousand francs,” was his unhurried response. “Of course, that includes delivery and tuning.”
I made noises about having to measure my apartment to be sure, but I think that we both knew I was going to buy it. Actually, I think he knew well before I and it puzzles me still to consider how he made that assessment after our brief encounters. But then, we reveal far more of ourselves than we suspect when we enter the bedizened world of our passions and our longings.
I returned two days later, having measured my apartment carefully.
My wife, Simo, was surprised to hear that all my practical arguments in favor of an upright—the cost, the size, the children—had vanished virtually overnight. “What happened to the idea of a small piano?”
I listed all my points in favor of a grand, babbling with enthusiasm as I recited the litany.
She listened silently, gave me a long look that mixed skepticism and understanding, then responded to my fervor with the practical point: “Well, we’d better figure out where your new baby is going to live.”
Together we found a corner between the window and the bookcase that formed an acute angle where the Stingl could be wedged in our apartment’s main room. We adjusted our budget for the price Luc quoted. It was a lot of money, particularly since I was just setting out on a new career path as a freelance writer, but my wife encouraged me to indulge my newfound sense of freedom: “Think of it as an investment in personal expression.”
This time at the atelier I did bring sheet music, and Luc nodded approvingly when he saw me set it on the music stand. I’ve never been comfortable playing in front of others, but somehow this was different; his presence seemed encouraging as we listened together to the particular voice of this instrument among so many other pianos. I played for perhaps ten minutes, pieces I knew reasonably well and could listen to while I sight-read: some Beethoven bagatelles, a few of Schumann’s pieces for children, an early Mozart fantasy. I was not disappointed. The Stingl’s resonance filled the room with tones at once clear and robust, and a sharp sense of pride welled up at the prospect of owning this distinctive piano, of seeing and playing it daily, of living with it. Good God, I thought, this is a kind of love; and, as in love, my senses amplified and enhanced the love object, all with an insouciance and willing enthusiasm.
I finished playing and turned to Luc with what must have been a delighted look on my face.
“I would say that you have found your piano.” His eyes sparkled, the successful matchmaker rejoicing in his skill.
“And I would say that you were right.”
from Those Old Piano Blues by Neil Wertheimer AARP Bulletin October 2017
1 For much of the 20th century, most every self-respecting home in America had a piano. It was the home entertainment system long before the era of electronics; families would play and sing together, or listen to their children’s recitals. The peak year for piano sales was 1909, when Americans bought 364,500 new models. Sales stayed high until the Depression and World War II years, but once the late ’40s arrived, piano sales grew strong and steady again for the next 30 years.
2 Then a slow, downward sales arpeggio1 started. In the late 1970s, “baby boomers began to stop buying new pianos,” says Larry Fine, publisher of Acoustic & Digital Piano Buyer. “Every year, a sales decline. People are doing other things.” In 2016, sales of new acoustic pianos hit a low note of 30,000 units.
3 And as more families like ours downsize or move, used pianos have flooded the market. We discovered that no one wanted our Steinway — for any price, including free. We started with music stores that advertised “top dollar” for used pianos. After sending photos and details, we received only declines; one came with a form letter that rang with bitterness. “Pianos often have a substantial amount of emotional value to their owners, so it can be difficult to accept that many pianos do not have meaningful value on the open market,” it told us. Reasons include a “tremendous oversupply” of pianos, less interest in them as a home furnishing, and the availability of “inexpensive, realistic” digital pianos.
4 The song had gone from major to minor, but we pressed on. None of our friends or relatives wanted it; neither did local churches, schools or charities. Then the song shifted to the saddest of blues. We discovered that the growth area in the business is paying someone to dispose of your old piano. “I’ve seen a boom in the last five years” of people getting rid of their pianos, says Bob Zahtilla at A Thru Z Piano, a company in Cleveland that sells and maintains, but also removes, pianos. He says he handles roughly five piano removals a month. “We tear them down, recycle the metals.”
5 “We get lots of calls from schools and institutions looking to get rid of their pianos,” adds Mike Ripatti at Beethoven Pianos in New York, another business that sells, services and disposes. They gather old pianos in their warehouse and, once they’ve accumulated a dozen or so, bring them to the dump. Disposal prices vary based on weight of the instrument and how treacherous its path to the truck is. Typical, though, is about $300 for an upright.
6 But like many a blues song, this piano riff ends with hope. We finally did find a friend who wants our piano, so his young son can learn to play. And while the day of the home piano is passing, “there’s no decline in piano lessons,” says Natalia Huang, who has piano studios in New York, Los Angeles and Connecticut. “Younger students are brought in to promote a love of music and personal development,” Huang says. “Adult students come in for personal growth and stress relief.”
7 And to be sure, many older pianos have reached their coda.2 “Sometimes, they’re just ready,” Zahtilla notes. A piano’s life span is typically 50 years; at that point, it needs rebuilding if it is to be played as it was meant to. So the pruning of a century’s worth of neglected home pianos might not be such a bad thing, if we continue to cherish the music.
Question 19 (1 point)
In the excerpt from "The Piano Shop on the Left Bank" and the excerpt from the article “Those Old Piano Blues,” with which statement would both authors most likely agree?
Question 19 options:
Old pianos offer a great deal of emotional value to their owners.
Old pianos are constructed from better materials than new pianos.
People can learn a lot about the history of pianos from musicians.
People should learn to play on an acoustic piano before moving to a digital one.
Question 20 (1 point)
While the narrator of the excerpt from The Piano Shop on the Left Bank finds an old Stingl valuable enough for him to spend a lot of money on it, the author of the excerpt from the article “Those Old Piano Blues” —
Question 20 options:
expects to sell an old Steinway for a high price
insists on donating his old piano to a school
gives an old Steinway to someone who wants it
thinks old pianos should be destroyed
Question 21 (1 point)
What is one notable difference between the two excerpts?
Question 21 options:
The selection from "The Piano Shop on the Left Bank" explains why someone wants to play piano, while the selection from th
The selection from "The Piano Shop on the Left Bank" describes evaluating and buying an old piano, while the selection from the article "Those Old Piano Blues" describes an abundance of unwanted old pianos.
The selection from "The Piano Shop on the Left Bank" emphasizes the craftsmanship of a new acoustic piano, while the selection from the article "Those Old Piano Blues" emphasizes today's preference for digital pianos.
The selection from "The Piano Shop on the Left Bank" shows how rare it is for someone to appreciate an old piano, while the selection from the article "Those Old Piano Blues" shows how people overvalue all musical instruments.
Answers
GPT-4o mini
Question 19:
**Answer: Old pianos offer a great deal of emotional value to their owners.**
Both authors address the emotional significance attached to pianos. In "The Piano Shop on the Left Bank," the narrator expresses a deep personal connection and longing tied to the act of purchasing and playing the piano. In "Those Old Piano Blues," the author highlights the emotional value owners place on their pianos, contrasting it with the reality of their market value.
---
Question 20:
**Answer: gives an old Steinway to someone who wants it.**
In the "Those Old Piano Blues" article, the author mentions eventually finding a friend who wants their old piano for his son to learn on, indicating they are giving it away rather than expecting to sell it for a high price or donating it to a school.
---
Question 21:
**Answer: The selection from "The Piano Shop on the Left Bank" describes evaluating and buying an old piano, while the selection from the article "Those Old Piano Blues" describes an abundance of unwanted old pianos.**
This option emphasizes the contrasting focuses of the two excerpts: one details the personal journey of selecting and valuing an old piano, while the other addresses the issue of unwanted pianos and their declining market demand.
**Answer: Old pianos offer a great deal of emotional value to their owners.**
Both authors address the emotional significance attached to pianos. In "The Piano Shop on the Left Bank," the narrator expresses a deep personal connection and longing tied to the act of purchasing and playing the piano. In "Those Old Piano Blues," the author highlights the emotional value owners place on their pianos, contrasting it with the reality of their market value.
---
Question 20:
**Answer: gives an old Steinway to someone who wants it.**
In the "Those Old Piano Blues" article, the author mentions eventually finding a friend who wants their old piano for his son to learn on, indicating they are giving it away rather than expecting to sell it for a high price or donating it to a school.
---
Question 21:
**Answer: The selection from "The Piano Shop on the Left Bank" describes evaluating and buying an old piano, while the selection from the article "Those Old Piano Blues" describes an abundance of unwanted old pianos.**
This option emphasizes the contrasting focuses of the two excerpts: one details the personal journey of selecting and valuing an old piano, while the other addresses the issue of unwanted pianos and their declining market demand.