The conclusion drawn depends on

Answer choices

1. A

   Too Strong: Unable13% picked this

   Art speculators are unable to distinguish an inferior painting by Renoir from a

   The author seems to be assuming that "there will still be a market" for these crappy Renoir paintings that the curator wants to sell, but she doesn't need to assume that art buyers cannot tell that these are crappy Renoir paintings. Even if they are able to distinguish an inferior painting by Renoir, they might still be willing to pay a good bit of money for it (since he's a famous painter).

   13%
2. B

   Correct73% picked this

   All of the paintings that the board of trustees sells will be among those that

   Why this is right

   If we negate this, it will be saying, "Some of the paintings that the board will be selling are not part of that group of crappy Renoir / Cezanne paintings". Would that weaken? Sure. That gives us a way to argue that the board's action could detract from the quality of the collection. We could say to the author, "Even though those paintings recommended by the curator add noting to the overall quality of the collection (so selling them wouldn't detract from the quality of the collection), the board would also be planning to sell other works. Those other works might currently add something to the collection, and so selling them might detract from the quality of the collection." It's not the most powerful objection, but it creates a big cloud of doubt. We don't know anything about these other paintings the board would be selling, so we can't any longer have the confidence the author has in her conclusion that we won't be detracting from the collection's quality based on the paintings we sell-off.

   Skill tested: Necessary Assumption · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.

   73%
3. C

   Too Strong: All4% picked this

   All of the paintings by Renior and Cézanne that are owned by the Federici Art Museum were purchased

   Does it really matter if Ms. F bought 100% of these paintings herself? If we negate this answer and say that, "At least one of these was bought by Ms. F's nephew", would that hurt the argument? Of course not. Who bought the paintings has nothing to do with whether selling them will affect the quality of the collection.

   4%
4. D

   Too Strong: Only3% picked this

   Only an avid collector of paintings by Cézanne would be willing to pay a high price for early

   The curator is definitely assuming that there will be some market for these early, inferior Cezanne's, but there's no reason she has to have the extreme idea that the only possible buyer is an avid collector. If, in addition to avid collectors, a pawn shop or an art school or a moderately-enthused collector of paintings were interested in buying an early Cezanne, the author's argument wouldn't be hurt at all. In fact, the more possible buyers there are for these early Cezanne's, the better, in terms of the curator's plan and the author's conclusion.

   3%
5. E

   Too Strong8% picked this

   A great work of art can be truly appreciated only if it is displayed in a carefully

   Too Strong: only if Out of Scope: truly appreciated Out of Scope: well-maintained This answer is introducing a lot of distinctions we never talked about. There was no discussion of great art, nor true appreciation, nor the design or condition of galleries. This answer is apparently directed at the first sentence. It seems to be inviting us to think about what the Board of Trustees was assuming, when they decided they should refurbish its galleries. Maybe they were thinking, "This shoddy gallery won't do. Great art can only be appreciated in a well-designed and well-maintained gallery." This is way too strong a belief to attribute to the Board of Trustees. They want to polish up their gallery, but we don't know if they believe this highly restrictive rule about where great art can / can't be truly appreciated. More importantly, this answer has nothing to do with the author's argument.

   8%