Reading comp PrepTest 142 · Section 3 · Question 7
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
The last paragraph most
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
Answer choices
-
AThe names of the Remaining source text redacted.
Why choice A is not credited
Incorrect. (Lines 52-54) The only mention of customers in Paragraph 4 talks about them not knowing the difference between the perfumes before and after the substitution of cheap ingredients for better ones—not that they don't know the names of the best perfumes. -
BThe profitability of a Remaining source text redacted.
Why choice B matches the stem
Correct. Question Type:
Must Be True
Strategy Overview:
Review our notes for Paragraph 4 and then hop into the answers, heading back to the passage to check any answers that align with our overall view of it
Answer Anticipation/Relevant Lines:
Looking at our notes for Paragraph 4, we see that it's about answering the question of why art experts don't consider perfumes to be truly great art—they're intertwined with the commercial world. Specifically, big companies have taken them over and altered formulas to make more money.
With that in mind, let's head to the answers and dive into any that line up with this.
Answer Explanation:
(Lines 47-51) Paragraph 4 notes that cynical bean counters substitute cheap ingredients to increase profits. As such, a more profitable perfume could have cheaper ingredients, and thus it wouldn't be of as high quality. Note that the paragraph doesn't say this is true of all perfumes, which means that there might be some very profitable perfumes that are of the highest quality. As such, we can infer that profitability and quality aren't the same thing in the perfume world, so this is the correct answer.
Key Takeaway:
A lot of Must Be True questions in RC deal with strength issues. They'll present an answer that aligns with the content, but it bumps up the strength or certainty. Here, the incorrect answers largely presented such issues! In general, unless you noted strong language in the passage, you should shy away from strong answers. -
CCompanies that sell perfume Remaining source text redacted.
Why choice C is not credited
Incorrect. (Lines 52-54) The passage does note that the perfumers "presume" their customers won't notice the difference between the cheaper and more expensive ingredients. However, that doesn't mean they pay "little attention" to what their customers want—maybe this presumption is based on experience, or surveys, or market research! -
DPerfume makers of the Remaining source text redacted.
Why choice D is not credited
Incorrect. (Lines 45-51) The Author does note that perfumes "today" are made by a few corporations with a focus on profits, leading them to tamper with formulas. However, while that might establish that tampering with formulas is more common today, it doesn't establish that such tampering never happened in the past. This answer is too extreme, so we can rule it out. -
ECompanies that sell perfume Remaining source text redacted.
Why choice E is not credited
Incorrect. (Lines 47-51) Paragraph 4 says that cheap ingredients are substituted for more expensive ones in order to increase profits, but that doesn't mean that the cheapest perfumes make the most profit! In fact, if you can get away with charging a lot for an exclusive perfume that's made with cheap ingredients, that might be the most profitable perfume in your catalog!
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