Reading comp PrepTest 131 · Section 4 · Question 21

Passage

Questions 16-22  .        The Japanese American sculptor Isamu Noguchi  . (1904–1988) was an artist who intuitively asked—and  . responded Remaining source text redacted.
Passage walkthrough
Passage Summary

Topic: Humanities


Paragraph 1

  • Paragraph note
    • Background on Noguchi (deeply original, creative, followed a unique path) and preview of sculpture example
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Author's view:
      • Noguchi asked and responded to deeply original questions in his art; he charted a unique path in his career (first and second sentences)
    • Comparison, according to the author:
      • Noguchi was like a scientist and could have become one (second sentence)
    • Example of Noguchi's creativity, according to the author:
      • The story behind a sculpture (last sentence)
    • Author's attitude: "intuitively asked—and responded to—deeply original questions" (first sentence); "repeatedly veered off at wide angles" (second sentence); "creativeness" (last sentence)

Paragraph 2

  • Paragraph note
    • Noguchi's background (early promise; Brancusi's stonecutter) and observation (sculptors have only used negative light/shadow)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Comparison, according to Noguchi:
      • Sculptors have used negative light (i.e., shadow) because only gold is reliably shiny (last sentence)
    • Author's attitude: "exquisite comprehension" (first sentence); "deft conceptual realization" (first sentence); "scientist's mind" (last sentence)

Paragraph 3

  • Paragraph note
    • Noguchi's goal (purely reflective sculpture) and suggested approach (chrome-nickel steel, a permanently reflective surface now available due to Ford)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Noguchi's view:
      • Wanted to create a purely reflective, positive-light sculpture (first sentence)
    • Comparisons, according to the author/Fuller:
      • Like nonoxidizing gold, chrome-nickel steel is permanently reflective; unlike nonoxidizing gold, chrome-nickel steel is cheap and available in mass quantities (third and last sentences)

Paragraph 4

  • Paragraph note
    • Description of sculpture ("invisible" surface that is noticed only when other objects change in reflection) and analogy (still waters)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Noguchi's view:
      • A positive-light sculpture would be "invisible," seen only when objects surrounding it change (fourth through last sentences)
    • Comparison, according to the author/Noguchi:
      • The surface of Noguchi's sculpture is like the surface of still water — it is only seen in reflection (second sentence)

Paragraph 5

  • Paragraph note
    • After the sculpture (praised but Noguchi moved on)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Author's view
      • Even after Noguchi received praise for his discovery, he kept on innovating/evolving (first and last sentence)
    • Author's attitude: "stunning discovery" (first sentence); "inquisitive nature" (first sentence); "the genius of his original and fundamental conception" (second sentence); "next phase of his evolution" (second sentence)

Main Point: Noguchi confronted original questions and continually innovated in his sculptures, as is illustrated by a particular reflective sculpture of Fuller.

Meta-Structure?

Generalization/Example: Check out the last sentence of the first paragraph. There, we're essentially told that the author is going to use the Generalization/Example Meta-Structure as a central feature of the passage.* The author opens the passage by claiming that Noguchi was innovative throughout his career and then closes out that paragraph by saying that one work exemplifies this general characterization of the sculptor. That example is discussed throughout the rest of the passage (except the last paragraph, but even that's used to reinforce the general point about Noguchi's boundless and restless innovation).

When a passage relies on a Generalization/Example Meta-Structure, the main piont is the author's generalization or a variation of, "[The specific example] illustrates [the generalization]. ") So, we used that template for our anticipated main point.

*That said, other Meta-Structures could apply to this passage. Most obviously, this passage conforms to the Innovative [Subject] Meta-Structure, with the place holder "[Subject]" standing in for "Artist" (Noguchi) or "Sculpture" (Fuller sculpture). We could also think of this as a Problem/Solution passage, where Noguchi looks for a way to rely on positive light in a sculpture (the problem) and eventually lands on chrome-nickel steel (the solution).

Last Thoughts?

That fourth paragraph is dense and hard to understand. However, it describes the innovative sculpture, so it's important to have some handle on what it's talking about. The analogy is there to help you wrap your head around it (pun completely intended). From that paragraph, we know that the sculpture is "invisible" in that it can only be seen through the reflections in the metal. And in that way, it's like the surface of a lake - you can't really see that surface, but you can see the trees, sun, and clouds reflected in it to know where it is. Let's keep that image in mind since it's likely more familiar than a portrait of Fuller sculpted out of chrome-nickel steel!

Question prompt

Which one of the Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: B

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

Question Type

Humanities

Strategy Overview

Refer to notes or what you highlighted/underline to locate where the passage discusses the portrait of Fuller, and refer to the relevant part of the passage as needed to find that answer choice that must be true

Answer Anticipation

For questions that ask us to infer, from a few details in the passage, an answer choice that must be true, quickly finding and reviewing those details is critical. That is why we make brief notes describing the role of each paragraph and highlight or underline definitions and the minor Meta-Structures — doing so helps us find the salient information efficiently and reliably. Once we review that part of the passage, we can look through the answer choices to see which one is best supported by what we reviewed. Since the question stem asks us to make an inference, the correct answer probably won't restate something from the passage. Instead, the question will likely require us to draw a connection between a few different pieces of information.Here, the question asks about the portrait of Fuller. Where did the passage discuss that? Well ... virtually everywhere, as the portrait of Fuller was the central example in the passage. But we can at least use our notes to form an anticipation. First of all, it's an example of Noguchi's "deeply original, creative" approach to sculpture. It was also inspired by Noguchi's "observation" that "sculptors have only used negative light/shadow." We know it's a "purely reflective sculpture" made from "chrome-nickel steel." It has an "'invisible' surface that is noticed only when other objects change in reflection." It was also "praised."The correct answer could reflect any one of those details — or one from the passage not reflected in our notes. So, let's first scan the answer choices for one that lines up with our notes on the sculpture. If none do, we can use our big-picture understanding of the passage to pick the answer choice that is most likely supported. Then, we'll review the passage to confirm that it's correct.

Answer choices

  1. A
    The material that Noguchi Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited

    (A) Does this reflect any of the facts we reviewed in our notes about the portrait of Fuller?

    Nope. This also doesn't line up with the main point of Noguchi being an innovator, so it has a strike against it right out of the gate. So, let's eliminate — or at least table — (A) and check the next answer choice.

    But if we had to review the passage to confirm that (A) is wrong, we'll see that the passage notes that the material in question had "just" been made commercially available "for the first time in history" by someone who developed it for automotive (not artistic) purposes (P3, S3). This makes it unlikely that someone else had investigated it for artistic use before Noguchi heard of it. That paragraph also doesn't say anything about other artists investigating it, so this answer is incorrect.

  2. B
    It was similar to Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B matches the stem

    (B) Does this reflect any of the facts we reviewed in our notes about the portrait of Fuller?

    Well ... we know that the portrait of Fuller represented a human form because ... well, it's a portrait. Even if it was an abstract sculpture, it still represented the human form. We didn't anticipate whether Noguchi sculpted the human form before 1927. We can review the passage now to see if that's supported, or we can mark (B) as a strong contender and review the remaining answer choices to see if any of them are consistent with the facts we reviewed.

    Once we review the passage to confirm that (B) is supported, we'll see that Noguchi sculpted the human form before 1927. We can check the beginning of the second paragraph, because our notes tell us that's where we learn about "Noguchi's background." There, we see he won a fellowship before he headed to Paris in 1927 because his sculptures "showed such exquisite comprehension of human anatomy" (P2, S1), which it would be hard to do without representing the human form. The passage supports this answer, so it's the correct answer. We can select it and move on to the next question.

  3. C
    Noguchi did not initially Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited

    (C) Does this reflect any of the facts we reviewed in our notes about the portrait of Fuller?

    No. Plus, this cuts against our note from the second paragraph, which says Noguchi got the idea to make a positive-light sculpture after observing that all sculptors had "only used negative light/shadow." That suggests that Noguchi was aware that he was doing something different. So, let's eliminate — or at least table — (C) and check the next answer choice.

    But if we had to review the passage to confirm that (C) is wrong, we'll see a few problems. First, Fuller reacted to Noguchi's idea for a positive-light sculpture by recommending a material for it, not by suggesting it was revolutionary (P3 ,S3). Second, Fuller reacted to the idea, not the sculpture — we never learn what he thought of his portrait. Third, the entire positive-light idea came from Noguchi's observation that prior sculptors had "relied exclusively" on negative light (P2, S6), so he certainly thought that his idea was innovative!

  4. D
    It was produced as Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited

    (D) Does this reflect any of the facts we reviewed in our notes about the portrait of Fuller?

    No. This also cuts against our note from the second paragraph, which says Noguchi got the idea to make a positive-light sculpture after observing that all sculptors had "only used negative light/shadow." This suggests that Noguchi was trying to innovate and not merely producing a favor for a friend. So, let's eliminate — or at least table — (D) and check the next answer choice.

    But if we had to review the passage to confirm that (D) is wrong, we'd see that Noguchi met Fuller and offered to sculpt a portrait of him (P3, S2). But the passage doesn't say this was done as a personal favor or that it wasn't meant to be widely displayed.

  5. E
    It was unlike the Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited

    (E) Does this reflect any of the facts we reviewed in our notes about the portrait of Fuller?

    Careful here! Our note tells us that Noguchi observed that all sculptors had "only used negative light/shadow." This would include Brancusi — the latter sculptor mentioned in this answer choice. So, the negative-light sculptures Brancusi produced depended on the contrasts between light and shadow. Therefore, we can eliminate (E) without checking the passage.

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A 4%
  2. B Credited 24%
  3. C 5%
  4. D 8%
  5. E 58%

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