Reading comp PrepTest 101 · Section 1 · Question 21

Passage

Questions 21-27  .        A fake can be defined as an artwork intended to  . deceive. The motives of its Remaining source text redacted.
Passage walkthrough
Passage Summary

Topic: Humanities


Paragraph 1

  • Paragraph note
    • Background on Jones's Fake? (explores artworks that fall between fake and original)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Definition of a "fake" work of art: a work intended to deceive; artistic merit of such a work is an unrelated question (first through second sentences)
    • Examples of artworks that fall between fake and original, according to Jones:
      • Works by an artist's followers in their style that try to replicate the "master's" style, deliberately making art look old, copying for teaching purposes, production of copies for sale (last sentence)
    • Author's attitude: "decisive" (second sentence); "broader concerns" (third sentence)

Paragraph 2

  • Paragraph note
    • Fake?'s thesis (faking increases when an interest in collecting increases)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Jones's view:
      • Faking of art flourishes wherever art collecting flourishes (first sentence)
    • Examples of times that art collecting influenced faking, according to Jones:
      • Imperial Rome: Interest in collecting Greek art spurred faking of Greek art (second through third sentences)
      • Medieval Europe: Art was devotional, and they didn't care as much about the fame or skill of artists, so art was not faked at all (fourth sentence)
      • Italian Renaissance: Interest in antiquity and recognition of individual skill drove art fakery (fifth sentence)
      • Michelangelo: Encouraged to age his Sleeping Cupid sculpture to increase its value; soon after, he became famous, and people started faking his works (sixth through eighth sentences)
    • Author's attitude: "masterpiece" (seventh sentence); "great art can assimilate and transcend" (seventh sentence); "wholly original work" (seventh sentence); "genius" (last sentence)

Paragraph 3

  • Paragraph note
    • Fake?'s other point (in some cultures, authenticity is a foreign or complicated subject)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Jones's (and the author's) view:
      • Authenticity is a foreign concept in certain cultures (first sentence)
    • Example of culture where authenticity is a foreign concept, according to Jones/the author:
      • African art: Authenticity depends on whether it functions as intended initially (second sentence)
      • Chi wara mask: One version has pegs allowing it to be attached to a cap and used in a ceremony, and the other doesn't have the pegs because it is a replica; even if the first version with pegs is much more recent, it is the only one that should be considered authentic (third through sixth sentences)
    • Author's view on Chi wara mask
      • The experts may tie authenticity to function, but the artisans may not agree (seventh through last sentences)
    • Author's attitude: "reminds us" (first sentence); "authenticity is a foreign concept" (first sentence); "so-called experts" (seventh sentence); "one wonders" (last sentence)

Main Point: In his book Fake?, Mark Jones explores the concept of artistic authenticity across various eras, locations, and cultures.

Key Lines?

Paragraph 1, Sentences 1-2 (P1, S1-2) - Definition of fake

P1, S5 - Ambiguous possibilities between fake and original

P2, S1 - Jones's first point (faking art driven by collecting art)

P3, S1 - Jones's second point (in some cultures, authenticity is non-existent or complicated)

Meta-Structure?

Question/Answer: This passage uses a Question/Answer Meta-Structure.* The author poses the implicit questions explored by author Mark Jones in his book Fake? The Art of Deception —  what distinguishes faked and authentic art? According to the author, Jones begins by naming several types of art that fall somewhere in between fake and original, then traces the history of art forgery through many different eras, from ancient Rome through the Middle Ages to the Italian Renaissance, arguing that faking art is dependent on whether the market valued antiquity and individual authorship. Jones also points out that, when it comes to collecting the art of some cultures, like those of Mali, authenticity depends on the object's function rather than who made it or when.

The author doesn't really make an argument in this passage. They merely report the many possible answers that Jones explores in his book. This exploration is not argumentative but fairly nuanced, pointing out that declaring a piece of art a fake or an original is not a straightforward matter, and that standards vary depending on the time and place the art was made.

*That said, this is not an easy passage to classify. We could also call this a Phenomenon/Explanation passage (phenomenon: artworks have been "faked" throughout history; explanation: collection drives faking, but "faking" has a different meaning in some cultures). We could call this a Reporting a Viewpoint passage since the author is mostly (but not entirely) reporting Jones's view, as expressed in Fake? Remember, there's no one right answer to the question, "Which Meta-Structure does this passage use"? 

Example: The most prominent minor Meta-Structure in this passage is the example. The author lists many examples throughout the passage, collected in the Passage Summary above. Highlighting these examples can help us locate them when answering the inevitable questions about them.

Last Thoughts?

Since the author doesn't reach any definitive conclusions in this passage, be extremely skeptical of any answer choice that suggests the author reached one.

Question prompt

The passage can best Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: C

The notes below walk through why it fits the stem and how to eliminate the rest.

Question Type

Humanities

Strategy Overview

Review the main point and any major Meta-Structures, then find an answer that best captures the latter with the details from the former.

Answer Anticipation

A question that asks what a passage "does" is really asking us to describe why the author wrote the passage. The correct answer will describe an action: what the author hoped to do in the passage and how the author accomplished that.Now, in a broad sense, every author hopes to convince us that the main point is true. However, different authors employ different means to convince us of that main point. That's why the passage's Meta-Structure can be revealing: it helps us predetermine how this specific author was attempting to convey the main point.In this case, the central Meta-Structure was Question/Answer, and the author discusses Jones's many answers in his book on what it means to distinguish fake and authentic art. First, the author touches on the difficulty of defining "fake" and "original" art (P1, S1-5), the multitude of ways in which forging art has appeared over the centuries (P2, S1), and the differences between how different cultures define "authentic" art (P3, S2).So, the correct answer will likely say something like, "to discuss how one historian explores how to answer challenging questions about 'fake' art." Let's look for something like that in the answer choices.

Answer choices

  1. A
    reconciling varied points of Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited

    (A) Does this answer choice say something like, "to discuss how one historian explores how to answer challenging questions about 'fake' art"?

    No. This sounds like a Resolving a Debate passage, not a Question/Answer passage. For this reason, we can eliminate (A).

    Although the author says that different cultures and times have differing viewpoints on what it means to "fake" art (P2, S1; P3, S1), neither the author nor Jones ever reconcile these viewpoints. That would require them to combine or establish some throughline between the collector-driven "fake" art and function-defined "fake" art. They never do that. They merely point out that these different points of view exist.

  2. B
    chronicling the evolution of Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited

    (B) Does this answer choice say something like, "to discuss how one historian explores how to answer challenging questions about 'fake' art"?

    Not quite, although this is a tempting answer choice to many test-takers. The second paragraph chronicles how art has been "faked" over time. Perhaps one could say the purpose of the second paragraph is to chronicle "the evolution of a phenomenon." Still, this chronological survey is not characterized as an evolution. Jones claims that art forgery manifests itself in different ways in different eras (P2, S1-7), but one era doesn't necessarily build on another, as it would in an evolution.

    Moreover, this answer choice is missing some parts of our anticipation. This doesn't include that Jones is trying to find some answer to the question of "faked" artworks. Jones is not merely chronicling art forgery over time. Jones is attempting to figure out why forgery occurs. This answer choice also doesn't include the "challenging questions" part of our anticipation. In doing so, it misses out how the idea of "faking" art is complicated by cultures that do not share other cultures' concept of "authenticity" (P3, S1).

    This answer choice isn't awful, and some test-takers may like to keep it as a contender while they assess the remaining choices. However, these issues will ultimately prove that this choice is wrong, especially in comparison to the correct answer.

  3. C
    exploring a complex question
    Why choice C matches the stem

    (C) Does this answer choice say something like, "to discuss how one historian explores how to answer challenging questions about 'fake' art"?

    Yes! In just a few words, this answer choice includes the idea that Jones explores how to answer a question about fake art ("exploring ... a question") and that this question is challenging ("complex question"). Therefore, this is a close match to our anticipation.

    Indeed, this answer choice is an accurate description of why the author wrote the passage. The author wrote the passage to show how Jones explores what constitutes "faked" art. Jones first points out that there are multiple possibilities along the spectrum of fake to authentic (P1, S4), then recounts how fake art has popped up over the centuries from ancient Rome to the Italian Renaissance (P2, S1-7), and finally explores how different cultures do not share others' definition of "authenticity" (P3, S1). Jones never comes to a definite answer to this question but points out the difficulty of answering these questions definitively across different eras and cultures.

    Because this answer choice matches our anticipation, Meta-Structure, and understanding of the passage, it is the right answer. We can justifiably select it, eliminate any choices we didn't already eliminate, and advance to the following question.

  4. D
    advocating a new approach
    Why choice D is not credited

    (D) Does this answer choice say something like, "to discuss how one historian explores how to answer challenging questions about 'fake' art"?

    No. This sounds like it describes the primary purpose of a Problem/Solution passage. We can eliminate (D) for this reason. After all, neither the author nor Jones advocates one way of looking at fake or authentic art over the others; they present all considerations and possibilities as equally valid and highly dependent on their time and place (P2, S1; P3, S1).

  5. E
    rejecting an inadequate explanation
    Why choice E is not credited

    (E) Does this answer choice say something like, "to discuss how one historian explores how to answer challenging questions about 'fake' art"?

    No. This sounds like it describes the primary purpose of a Phenomenon/Explanation or Criticizing a Viewpoint passage. We can cross off (E) for this reason. Neither the author nor Jones advocates for or rejects a particular answer to the implicit questions they pose.

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A 11%
  2. B 24%
  3. C Credited 61%
  4. D 3%
  5. E 1%

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