Reading comp PrepTest 142 · Section 3 · Question 1

Incorrect. (Lines 47-50) Paragraph 4 complains about the "cynical bean counters" at corporations mucking with a perfume's formula to save a few bucks, so there's no hint that they value artistic skill.

Incorrect. (Lines 37-43) Tempting answer! This answer does hit on the comparison that makes up the bulk of the passage. However, there are a couple issues with it. First, it focuses only on music and painting, whereas the stimulus was broader in comparing perfumes to all other arts. Second, this answer compares perfumes only on their ability to evoke powerful reactions—that's not the same as being great art that deserves study. Because of these, this answer is incorrect (though it almost certainly would have survived a first pass of eliminations).

Incorrect. (Lines 44-45) This answer plays off of the Question/Answer metastructure present in the passage. However, the question was about why great perfume isn't considered great art, not why great perfumes are rarely produced anymore. In fact, the passage never states that "few" great perfumes are now produced—it actually says that truly great smells are undervalued, suggesting that a number of them are being produced.

Correct. Question Type:
Main Point

Strategy Overview:
Reiterate the main point as we anticipated it, and then find an answer reflecting it

Answer Anticipation/Relevant Lines:
The Passage starts with a question—why isn't great perfume taken more seriously as a type of art? (Line 7) When a passage starts out with a question, we generally expect the Author to then present an answer to this question, backing it up with argument, and thus the answer would serve as the main point.

Here, however, the Author takes a step back and spends most of the passage discussing a necessary prerequisite for asking this question—should great perfume be considered a work of art? She does so by bringing up comparisons between perfumes and other works of art (Lines 13-18; Lines 29-33). When she does get back to answering the question, it's a tentative and uncertain answer (Line 44 - "Perhaps . . . ").

As such, the argument is much more focused on proving great perfume is a type of art rather than answering the question as to why it's not considered as such. This leads us to formulating an anticipated main point:

Great perfumes should be considered works of art, as are great paintings/music/literature/etc . . . , even if some have been coopted by corporate profit-seeking.

Answer Explanation:
(Lines 13-14; Lines 37-44) While this answer does neglect to discuss the last paragraph in full, it does reflect that paragraph. The Author states only that it's "[p]erhaps" the case that truly great smells are undervalued because of their corporate ties. But that presumes the main point that the Author spent the previous three paragraphs justifying—that perfumes are great art, just as paintings, compositions, and novels can be—and that they deserve respect and attention as such. That they don't receive it possibly because of corporate intervention only goes to reinforce the view that they deserve a respect they aren't getting. This answer is therefore correct.

Key Takeaway:
In general, a passage that poses a question will have the Author's preferred answer to that question as the main point. However, there are exceptions. Sometimes, the answer is more limited, less certain, or only reflects a broader point. Here, the Author's answer to the question was less certain ("Perhaps . . . "), and it was an outcropping of her main point—that perfumes are art that deserve respect and study.

Incorrect. (Lines 13-14) While Paragraphs 2 and 3 focus on comparing perfumes and paintings, the Author actually believes that perfumes are the sister art to many different disciplines. This answer misses that wider comparison—and it also fails to bring the main point home by concluding that perfumes thus deserve respect and study.