Reading comp PrepTest 142 · Section 3 · Question 2
Passage
Questions 1-8 . Given the amount of time and effort that curators, . collectors, dealers, scholars, and critics spend
Remaining source text redacted.
Passage walkthrough
Passage SummaryTopic: Humanities
Paragraph 1
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.
Key Lines:
Line 7 - A question is introduced Lines 13-18 - Similarities between perfumes and oil paintings are discussed
Lines 29-33 - The comparison is continued
Lines 44-47 - The question is answered
Meta-Structure:
Question/Answer - The Author asks a question in Paragraph 1 that is then answered in Paragraph 4. While the answer to a question is generally the main point of the passage, here, it takes a secondary seat to the comparison between great perfume and great works of art in other media, and the argument that great perfume should be regarded as a work of art. That makes up the bulk of the passage and also serves as a necessary part of the question. Even the answer to the question reflects on this argument.
Comparisons - The passage reaches a comparative conclusion (great perfume should be treated similarly to great works of art in other media), and it does so by bringing up similarities between the compared elements. As such, we should expect questions on these points of comparison.
Last Thoughts:
This passage is interesting in that it presents a Question/Answer structure, but the argument is more about a point that goes into setting that question up. One key way we can tell that that's the case is the certainty between the two parts of the argument.
The Author, without a doubt, believes that great perfume should be considered great art, and studied as such. That's a very certain conclusion. However, in answering the question of why it isn't, she says only that "[p]erhaps" the reason is that perfume is manufactured by corporations looking to make money, and they're messing with the formulas. The uncertainty presented in that answer suggests that it's a secondary point.
Paragraph 1
- Paragraph note
- A question/conundrum is presented and explored
- Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
- Art experts spend a lot of time on paintings/music/etc, but not on perfume - a mistake
- Similarity - They all stimulate senses
- Paragraph note
- Similarities between painting and perfume are discussed - focus on painting
- Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
- Similarity - Painters and perfumers combine chemical compounds (for paint and perfume, respectively)
- Painting process is described in detail
- Paragraph note
- The similarity is continued - focus on perfume
- Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
- Perfumers layer scents with different evaporation speeds to evoke images and memories
- Focus on perfumes
- Paragraph note
- A potential answer is presented
- Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
- Answer - Big companies have taken over perfumes and required cheap substitutes; can't split these from fine perfume
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.
Key Lines:
Line 7 - A question is introduced Lines 13-18 - Similarities between perfumes and oil paintings are discussed
Lines 29-33 - The comparison is continued
Lines 44-47 - The question is answered
Meta-Structure:
Question/Answer - The Author asks a question in Paragraph 1 that is then answered in Paragraph 4. While the answer to a question is generally the main point of the passage, here, it takes a secondary seat to the comparison between great perfume and great works of art in other media, and the argument that great perfume should be regarded as a work of art. That makes up the bulk of the passage and also serves as a necessary part of the question. Even the answer to the question reflects on this argument.
Comparisons - The passage reaches a comparative conclusion (great perfume should be treated similarly to great works of art in other media), and it does so by bringing up similarities between the compared elements. As such, we should expect questions on these points of comparison.
Last Thoughts:
This passage is interesting in that it presents a Question/Answer structure, but the argument is more about a point that goes into setting that question up. One key way we can tell that that's the case is the certainty between the two parts of the argument.
The Author, without a doubt, believes that great perfume should be considered great art, and studied as such. That's a very certain conclusion. However, in answering the question of why it isn't, she says only that "[p]erhaps" the reason is that perfume is manufactured by corporations looking to make money, and they're messing with the formulas. The uncertainty presented in that answer suggests that it's a secondary point.
Question prompt
In which one of
Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right
Credited answer: E
The notes below walk through why it fits the stem and how to eliminate the rest.
Question Type
Humanities
Answer choices
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AThe alteration makes the Remaining source text redacted.
Why choice A is not credited
Incorrect. (Lines 9-12) The Author brings up Joy Parfum as an example of a masterpiece perfume, but she wouldn't want every perfume to be altered to be closer to it—they should be altered back to their original and distinct formula. -
BThe alteration is done Remaining source text redacted.
Why choice B is not credited
Incorrect. (Lines 47-51) Replacing expensive ingredients with less costly ones is the practice that the Author refers to as "cynical...tamper[ing]" to increase profits, so this isn't what she'd view as a justified alteration. -
CThe alteration replaces a Remaining source text redacted.
Why choice C is not credited
Incorrect. (Lines 14-18; Lines 47-51) The Author doesn't believe that all natural compounds are better, and all synthetic ones are cheaper. She states in Paragraph 2 that synthetic pigments can be included in great perfumes, and so switching from a synthetic to natural ingredient would be justified only if it took the formula back to its original state—which this answer doesn't say. -
DThe alteration is done Remaining source text redacted.
Why choice D is not credited
Incorrect. (Lines 52-54) The passage suggests that the customers might not even notice the switch from the more expensive to cheaper ingredient, and the appeal to customers isn't noted by the Author as something to strive for. -
EThe alteration takes a Remaining source text redacted.
Why choice E matches the stem
Correct. Question Type:
Must Be True (Principle)
Strategy Overview:
Review what the Author said about altering the formula, and then anticipate what the Author would believe is a justified alteration
Answer Anticipation/Relevant Lines:
The discussion of perfume manufacturers started in Paragraph 4, so we should head there. Doing so, we can see that the discussion of alterations begins in Line 47—there, it's stated that the "cynical bean counters...tamper with old formulas" to get cheaper ingredients and increase profits. So the Author believes that it's a bad thing when a classic perfume formula is altered away from its original form.
As such, she'd likely agree that an alteration to take a tampered with formula back to how it was originally designed would be a good change. Let's find an answer reflecting that.
Answer Explanation:
(Lines 47-51) The Author decries when cynical bean counters tamper with a formula to change it to use cheaper compounds. As such, she'd feel it's justified to change a formula that had already been altered and bring it back closer to its pre-altered state, before those bean counters got involved. This answer aligns with the reasoning presented by the Author, so it's the correct answer.
Key Takeaway:
Note that we referred to this as a Must Be True (Principle) question. While the question stem didn't specifically note that we should look for a principle, we were tasked with taking a view of the Author's and applying it to a different situation. That's more or less what a principle is—reasoning that can be applied to different situations—so it was a good lens to help us understand our task.
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Started by CWhite