PrepTest 142

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Argument/Argument

Valid or Flawed:
Flawed/Flawed

Question Type:
Principle (Strengthen)

Stimulus Summary:
V: The founders intended this museum to cover modern art, but its modern art collection is the smallest, so it's not fulfilling its intended purpose.

S: This is an art museum, and the modern art collection is small because the curators think most modern art is bad, so the size is appropriate.

Answer Anticipation:
Principle (Strengthen) questions connect the premises offered in support of a conclusion to the judgment in that conclusion. Here, we're asked to justify the response of Simpson with a principle, so we should focus on her argument.

It can be helpful to start with the conclusion to know what judgment needs to be justified. Here, Simpson concludes that the size of the museum's contemporary art exhibit is appropriate. Why does she believe that to be the case? Because the museum curators believe that there is "little high-quality contemporary art." So in order to justify this rebuttal, we need to connect those ideas:

If a museum's curators believe that certain art isn't of high quality, then it's appropriate not to have a large amount of it in the museum.

Answer Explanation:
This answer connects Simpson's premise to her conclusion. Rephrased, this answer says: If a museum's curators don't consider art to be of high artistic quality, then an art museum shouldn't collect it.

Key Takeaway:
Principle (Strengthen) questions task you with finding a principle that connects the details of the argument/scenario described to the judgment in the conclusion. Start with that conclusion, figure out what the author uses to justify it, and find the answer that connects those two. These answers can seem too straightforward and repetitive of the stimulus—but they should, so don't rule an answer choice out for that!

Incorrect. The founders intended the museum to devote equal attention to contemporary art. While arguably having a smaller collection of contemporary art violates that purpose, it's hard to see how a work of art itself would violate that purpose. It's more that the breakdown of a collection would violate that purpose than that any individual work would.

Incorrect. Simpson establishes that the museum is an art museum, not an ethnographic museum that conforms to the purpose this answer choice rules out. As such, the argument already implies that this is true, and it doesn't justify the conclusion, so it's incorrect.

Incorrect. Simpson states that the museum in question isn't an ethnographic museum, so what is true of those museums won't justify a conclusion about this museum.

Incorrect. Simpson relies on the beliefs of the curators to justify her conclusion, so this answer runs counter to her argument.