PrepTest 153

Incorrect. Negated, this gives us "Blue Irises is not nonrepresentational," which not only doesn't destroy the conclusion, it shores it up by affirming the painting isn't in the only category allowed to skip brushwork and/or contrast without getting kicked out of the art movement.

Incorrect. Negating this to "Blue Irises depicts shadows" doesn't affect the argument. It's possible to depict shadows without sharp contrast.

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Argument

Valid or Flawed:
Flawed

Question Type:
Strengthen with Necessary Premise

Stimulus Summary:
MOST paintings from our city's art movement have bold brushwork and sharp light/shadow contrast. IF they are in our city's art movement and DO NOT have those characteristics, THEN they are abstract paintings. However, our city's most famous painting is not part of the city's art movement, because it has bold brushwork and DOES NOT have sharp light/shadow contrast.

Answer Anticipation:
Uh, pretty bold of the critic to kick the city's most famous painting out of its art movement! And after they just said there are paintings that are in the art movement but lack one or both of the two criteria given, bold brushwork and sharp light/shadow contrast. But, those were all abstract paintings. So we have to assume Blue Irises isn't, in order to determine that it doesn't belong. Don't forget to negate!

Answer Explanation:
There we go. Negated to "Blue Irises is an abstract painting," this destroys the argument. If it's abstract, there's no reason it can't be in the art movement.

Key Takeaway:
Strengthen with Necessary Premise questions are rarely conditional. When they are, it's a good idea to diagram out the conditional rules if you can, just to make sure you understand them. Then, use your diagram to evaluate your answer choices, alongside your trusty negation.

Incorrect. The conclusion is about Blue Irises, so we don't really care about other paintings. This answer choice isn't relevant to the conclusion at all.

Incorrect. This is backwards; if it said "all of the paintings from the art movement have sharp light-shadow contrast," it might work.