Passage
The fledgling public television industry faced an uncertain future in the late 1960s. Near the end of his presidency, Democrat Lyndon Johnson allocated $20 million to create the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. In 1969, however, his newly elected Republican successor Richard Nixon hoped to reduce government spending and was considering a cut of 50% or more to that appropriation. Before a final decision was made, public broadcasting representatives were invited to appear before Congress to make their case for the full funding. One of their leaders, future Public Broadcasting Service president Hartford N. Gunn, Jr., asked TV personality Fred Rogers to join him in testifying as a key advocate for public television.As the creator and host of the show Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, Rogers embodied moral values, a deep sense of purpose, and concern for the welfare of children, all of which would later make him one of the most beloved figures in television history. At the time of the congressional hearing, however, Rogers' show had aired nationally for only a year. Although highly regarded by his current audience, Rogers did not yet possess the level of recognition he would eventually obtain. His televised appearance before the Sub-Committee on Communications would be many Americans' first time seeing him. In addition, despite having studied early childhood development under such prominent psychologists as Benjamin Spock and Margaret McFarland, Rogers was not widely known as an expert in that field. In short, Rogers was an unusual figure to be chosen to testify before Congress. Rogers' biographer Maxwell King describes Gunn's decision to depend so heavily on Rogers' testimony as "a pretty big gamble."Chairing the sub-committee hearing was Democratic senator John Pastore of Rhode Island, portrayed by King as "a blunt, no-nonsense social conservative who shared the Republican interest in keeping federal spending in line." Pastore had also been critical of the television industry for what he saw as its promotion of immorality. Although those criticisms had been leveled primarily at commercial programs, Pastore's views certainly couldn't have helped the case that Rogers needed to make. The unproven nature of public television as a recent enterprise added an additional hurdle to securing the funding.Nevertheless, despite the odds stacked against him, Fred Rogers greatly impressed Pastore and the rest of the sub-committee. Rather than giving the type of formal testimony that might have been expected at such a hearing, Rogers simply spoke earnestly about what, in his view, made public television so important. He shared Pastore's worries about television's content, and was especially concerned about television geared toward children. Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, which addressed children directly and acknowledged their unique perspective, was based on Rogers' vision of public programming as a positive social force. As he explained, taking children's problems seriously and showing them that their lives can be understood and managed makes a profound difference in the type of people they become and the society they help to create.The highlight of the testimony came when Rogers recited the lyrics to one of the songs from his show, which had been inspired by a child's question about how to deal with anger. The song acknowledges the frustrations and fears of childhood while affirming each child's ability to control his or her feelings and behavior. Rogers' simple but encouraging words clearly moved the sub-committee members, including Senator Pastore, who responded: "Looks like you just earned the twenty million dollars." Hartford Gunn's gamble had paid off. In an interesting twist of affairs, Pastore himself testified the following year at the White House Conference on Children-an event chaired by none other than Fred Rogers.
-Based on the passage, it can most reasonably be inferred that Wagner's greatest achievement as a composer was that:

Question

Passage
The fledgling public television industry faced an uncertain future in the late 1960s.  Near the end of his presidency, Democrat Lyndon Johnson allocated $20 million to create the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.  In 1969, however, his newly elected Republican successor Richard Nixon hoped to reduce government spending and was considering a cut of 50% or more to that appropriation.  Before a final decision was made, public broadcasting representatives were invited to appear before Congress to make their case for the full funding.  One of their leaders, future Public Broadcasting Service president Hartford N. Gunn, Jr., asked TV personality Fred Rogers to join him in testifying as a key advocate for public television.As the creator and host of the show Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, Rogers embodied moral values, a deep sense of purpose, and concern for the welfare of children, all of which would later make him one of the most beloved figures in television history.  At the time of the congressional hearing, however, Rogers' show had aired nationally for only a year.  Although highly regarded by his current audience, Rogers did not yet possess the level of recognition he would eventually obtain.  His televised appearance before the Sub-Committee on Communications would be many Americans' first time seeing him.  In addition, despite having studied early childhood development under such prominent psychologists as Benjamin Spock and Margaret McFarland, Rogers was not widely known as an expert in that field.  In short, Rogers was an unusual figure to be chosen to testify before Congress.  Rogers' biographer Maxwell King describes Gunn's decision to depend so heavily on Rogers' testimony as "a pretty big gamble."Chairing the sub-committee hearing was Democratic senator John Pastore of Rhode Island, portrayed by King as "a blunt, no-nonsense social conservative who shared the Republican interest in keeping federal spending in line."  Pastore had also been critical of the television industry for what he saw as its promotion of immorality.  Although those criticisms had been leveled primarily at commercial programs, Pastore's views certainly couldn't have helped the case that Rogers needed to make.  The unproven nature of public television as a recent enterprise added an additional hurdle to securing the funding.Nevertheless, despite the odds stacked against him, Fred Rogers greatly impressed Pastore and the rest of the sub-committee.  Rather than giving the type of formal testimony that might have been expected at such a hearing, Rogers simply spoke earnestly about what, in his view, made public television so important.  He shared Pastore's worries about television's content, and was especially concerned about television geared toward children.  Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, which addressed children directly and acknowledged their unique perspective, was based on Rogers' vision of public programming as a positive social force.  As he explained, taking children's problems seriously and showing them that their lives can be understood and managed makes a profound difference in the type of people they become and the society they help to create.The highlight of the testimony came when Rogers recited the lyrics to one of the songs from his show, which had been inspired by a child's question about how to deal with anger.  The song acknowledges the frustrations and fears of childhood while affirming each child's ability to control his or her feelings and behavior.  Rogers' simple but encouraging words clearly moved the sub-committee members, including Senator Pastore, who responded: "Looks like you just earned the twenty million dollars."  Hartford Gunn's gamble had paid off.  In an interesting twist of affairs, Pastore himself testified the following year at the White House Conference on Children-an event chaired by none other than Fred Rogers.
-Based on the passage, it can most reasonably be inferred that Wagner's greatest achievement as a composer was that:

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Paragraph 2 states that "the most influential Wagnerian innovation was the concept of the leitmotif, a recurring musical phrase or melody closely associated with a particular character, place, or thing in the drama." Leitmotifs were important because they "served as dramatic devices that signaled the appearance of different characters," and "also provided the internal musical logic and unifying mechanism" for an operatic work. In particular, leitmotifs allowed Wagner to generate "'a dense, constantly evolving, and fully enclosed dramatic world' whose musical complexity was staggering." Paragraph 4 further explains that "the concept of the leitmotif" made a "contribution to musical film scores" and was the origin of "what we now call the 'theme song.'" Therefore, based on the passage, it can most reasonably be inferred that Wagner's greatest achievement (ie, most influential innovation) as a composer was that he relied on the application (use) of leitmotifs. (Choices A and B) According to Paragraph 1, Wagner "set out to systematically revolutionize" opera with his theory of Gesamtkunstwerk, or "complete work of art," which "represented a comprehensive synthesis (mixture) of the poetic, visual, musical, and dramatic arts, where the music was now subordinate to the drama rather than the drama to the music." However, although Wagner may have elevated opera with his Gesamtkunstwerk theory and shaped his music to suit the dramas or libretti (lyrics and narrative) of his operas, Paragraph 2 makes it clear that "the most influential Wagnerian innovation was the concept of the leitmotif." (Choice C) Paragraph 1 describes Wagner's "novel art form" of Gesamtkunstwerk as "a comprehensive synthesis of the poetic, visual, musical, and dramatic arts, where the music was now subordinate to the drama rather than the drama to the music." This evidence indicates that Wagner mixed traditional opera with other art forms, such as poetry and drama, rather than preserving it as a separate and distinct genre.

Passage the Fledgling Public Television Industry Faced an Uncertain Future in in the Late