Reading comp PrepTest 142 · Section 3 · Question 8

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
  • 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 2
  • 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 3
  • 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 4
  • 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
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.

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

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

Credited answer: D

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

Question Type

Humanities

Answer choices

  1. A
    The first paragraph makes Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited
    Incorrect. Paragraph 1 arguably makes an observation—perfume isn't considered art as other forms are. However, Paragraphs 2 and 3 don't elaborate on that observation but rather argue that perfume should be considered a form of art. They also don't provide a tentative explanation for the observation, and so Paragraph 4 can't provide an alternative explanation.
  2. B
    The first paragraph advances Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited
    Incorrect. We can consider Paragraph 1 as presenting a thesis since it's clearly stated that the Author finds it "odd" that perfumes aren't considered art. And Paragraphs 2-3 do present a case that they should consider it art. However, Paragraph 4 doesn't present a challenge to that thesis—rather, it supports the thesis by explaining why the "odd" phenomenon might be the case, thus suggesting perfume can be art and yet not considered that because of the commercial influence on it.
  3. C
    The first paragraph sets Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited
    Incorrect. While Paragraph 1 does challenge the established wisdom of art experts that perfume isn't art, Paragraphs 2-3 don't respond to the challenge—they support the challenge! Be sure that you keep track of what different phrases are referring to here—the "challenge" is the Author's view that perfumes should be considered art, challenging the views of experts that they aren't.
  4. D
    The first paragraph poses Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D matches the stem
    Correct. Question Type:
    Methods of Reasoning/Argument Structure

    Strategy Overview:
    Review our role notes for each paragraph, reiterate the main point, and then find an answer that lines up with both

    Answer Anticipation/Relevant Lines:
    Let's run down what we said for each paragraph:

    1 - Present a question/conundrum and explore it
    2 - Similarities between painting and perfume, with a focus on paintings
    3 - Similarities between painting and perfume, with a focus on perfume
    4 - Tentative answer to question, with a focus on perfume business

    This was all in service of supporting the view that great perfumes are works of art and should be considered as such by experts.

    Let's find an answer reflecting these points.

    Answer Explanation:
    Perfect, and it even matches the metastructure that we defined! Paragraph 1 poses a question that presupposes perfume is art. Paragraphs 2-3 justify that presupposition—so they justify the posing of the question. And Paragraph 4 presents a possible ("Perhaps . . . ") answer to that question. This answer hits the role of each paragraph within the main point, so it's the correct answer.

    Key Takeaway:
    Note how many of these answers were arguably correct with their description of Paragraph 1 despite using very different language. There is a lot of overlap between these different concepts—problems, questions, phenomena, etc . . . ! However, at the same time, when there's a very clear and common metastructure—here, the question posed, and the tentative answer presented—that tends to be reflected in the correct answer. This is why we call out these metastructures—because, historically, they've been reflected in the correct answers on the LSAT.
  5. E
    The first paragraph outlines Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited
    Incorrect. One can argue that posing a question about a situation that an author finds odd counts as outlining a problem—here, that art experts don't consider perfume art when they should. However, Paragraphs 2-3 don't present consequences of that problem—instead, they argue that perfume should be considered art. This answer is therefore wrong.

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A 5%
  2. B 3%
  3. C 2%
  4. D Credited 82%
  5. E 8%

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