PrepTest 124

Incorrect. Frederick talks only of acquiring the works of "recognized" masters, but he doesn't state that unrecognized masterpieces don't exist—this answer is out of scope of his argument. Elaine is also noncommittal on this, saying "even if" there are best works out there that aren't recognized as masterpieces (and even then, she's saying that museums should collect the best work from each period—that might fall short of masterpiece level).

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Argument/Argument

Valid or Flawed:
Flawed/Flawed

Question Type:
Point at Issue

Stimulus Summary:
E: Art museum goal - Preserve and make available artworks. Approach - Get and show best examples of each period, regardless of expert opinion.

F: Art museum goal - Preserve greatest art. Approach - Use limited resources to get recognized masterpieces.

Answer Anticipation:
Each of these speakers' statements falls into the goal/approach structure, and that's a great way to analyze the disagreement here, as we can look to see which of those elements is that point at issue.

Here, they each outline a slightly different goal. Elaine wants museums to get the best examples of each period, regardless of whether those pieces are recognized as masterpieces by experts. Frederick wants the museums to focus on recognized masterpieces since they have limited resources. So there's some overlap there—presumably, those masterpieces would count as "best examples" of a given period—but also some deviation there as far as which art is to be preserved and how that's determined.

Both speakers want the museums to purchase and display certain works, though, so the approach is similar, even if applied to different art.

Answer Explanation:
Elaine says that museums should seek out the best works of each genre, so she agrees with this answer. Frederick wants museums to focus their limited resources on acquiring the greatest artwork, not necessarily a representative sample from every genre, so he disagrees with this answer. This is the point at issue between them, highlighting the different goals they set out for museums.

Key Takeaway:
For Point at Issue questions, framing the speakers's statements around our common argument forms can make it much easier to see which "element" of their argument they disagree over.

Incorrect. Both speakers agree with this; they disagree over which art should be prioritized.

Incorrect. We can't commit either speaker to agreeing or disagreeing with this answer. Elaine sets as a goal getting the "best examples" of each genre, so she may believe that getting an unusual example doesn't meet that goal. Frederick focuses on recognized masterpieces, which may or may not be unusual examples of a genre.

Incorrect. Neither speaker can be committed to an opinion on this. Elaine wants museums to get the best examples of each genre, but that doesn't mean she considers them masterpieces, so her statement about expert recognition doesn't address this point. Frederick assumes that all masterpieces will be identified as such in saying that getting the works of recognized masters will "ensure" the preservation of the greatest works, but he doesn't assume the reverse, as this answer states.