PrepTest 141

Incorrect. This answer doesn't address whether a civic building is successfully serving its purpose, just where it should be built if possible. And since the Critic believes the art museum is successful without mentioning where it's built, she can't believe it's all that relevant. Finally, the image of the "city on the hill" is dismissed as not guaranteeing a truly elevated purpose.

Incorrect. This answer sets up civic buildings as a necessary part of creating social cohesion, but it doesn't establish social cohesion as a purpose of civic buildings. This answer is a bit of a reversal of what we're looking for—a principle establishing social cohesion as a necessary element of a successful civic building.

Incorrect. The argument is about whether a civic building serves its purpose, not whether it has an "elevated purpose" and should be on a spectacular site. If anything, in suggesting that the art museum is successful despite being located in the heart of downtown, it's saying that there are factors much more important than the spectacle of the location.

Incorrect. There's no discussion of how areas of a city should be designed—just what a successful civic building should do, regardless of its location.

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Argument

Valid or Flawed:
Flawed

Question Type:
Strengthen (Principle)

Stimulus Summary:
Concert hall: A civic building on a hill, but far from the city's center.
Art museum: A civic building in the downtown that encourages social cohesion and city life.
Conclusion: The concert hall doesn't fulfill the purpose of a civic building while the art museum does.

Answer Anticipation:
The argument concludes that one civic building fulfills the purpose of such a building while another does not. The relevant difference raised? That the successful building "encourages social cohesion and makes the city more alive," traits absent from the other. The correct answer, therefore, should connect these traits to the purpose of a civic building.

Answer Explanation:
This answer provides a principle establishing the purpose of civic buildings. The Critic states that the art museum succeeds as a civic building where the concert hall fails because the former encourages social cohesion and makes the city feel alive. If those are the purposes of a civic building, as this answer choice states, then the conclusion holds.

Key Takeaway:
Purpose is similar to motive, in that it's always important when raised in a stimulus and it speaks to the reason behind something. Note them when they are mentioned, as the logic in the argument will likely center on it!