High atop a rocky hill in Sion, Switzerland, the Basilique de Valère houses an extraordinary musical relic: an organ constructed in the early fifteenth century. Unlike most medieval instruments, which have been silenced by decay or altered beyond recognition by subsequent restorations, this organ remains playable. Organ builders in the region often utilized local spruce and pine, which grew slowly in the high altitude and possessed dense acoustic properties. This longevity is largely due to a conservative restoration in 1954 that prioritized preserving the original Gothic pipework rather than updating the mechanism to suit modern tastes.
The writer is considering deleting the third sentence from the passage. Should the sentence be kept or deleted?
- AKept, because it provides essential evidence explaining how the high altitude of Sion, Switzerland, contributed to the organ's physical preservation.
- BKept, because it establishes a transition between the description of the organ's current condition and the explanation of its medieval construction techniques.
- Deleted, because it introduces a general discussion of regional building materials that interrupts the paragraph's focus on the history and preservation of the Valère organ.Answer
- DDeleted, because it contradicts the passage's claim that the organ's longevity is primarily due to a modern restoration process.