During the 1980’s Japanese collectors

Answer choices

1. A

   No Impact2% picked this

   Impressionist paintings first became popular among art collectors in Europe at the beginning of

   This tells us nothing about these Japanese collectors, so it's very unlikely to have any impact. Finding out that Impressionist paintings first became popular in the early 1900's tells us nothing helpful when it comes to solving the causal mystery of why Japanese collectors in the 80's were so into buying them.

   2%
2. B

   No Impact2% picked this

   During the 1980s, the Japanese economy underwent a sustained expansion that was unprecedented in the

   This tells us that the Japanese economy was doing much better during the 80s. That might mean that some people had more of a budget to acquire art. But we still have no idea whether these Japanese collectors were buying Impressionist paintings because they liked them aesthetically or for some other purpose.

   2%
3. C

   Correct92% picked this

   Several nineteenth-century Impressionist painters adopted certain techniques and visual effects found in Japanese prints that are

   Why this is right

   This adds plausibility to the Author's Explanation that the reason the Japanese collectors were buying up 19th century Impressionist paintings is that they liked certain aspects of the Impressionist aesthetic. This answer makes that claim more believable by filling in a little backstory -- some Impressionist painters used techniques and visual effects (i.e. certain aesthetic attributes) that are common to the Japanese aesthetic culture (it reminded these collectors of aesthetic attributes possessed by certain Japanese prints that are greatly admired in Japan).

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

   92%
4. D

   Weakens, if anything3% picked this

   During the 1960s and 1970s, the prices of nineteenth-century Impressionist paintings often exceeded the prices of paintings

   This has unclear impact because it doesn't talk about the 1980s, but if we knew that this trend continued into the 1980s, then this would somewhat weaken. If we're told that the re-sale value for Impressionist paintings was super high, that suggests that Japanese collectors were acquiring these paintings more as financial investments than as aesthetic delights.

   3%
5. E

   No Impact2% picked this

   During the 1980s, collectors from Japan and around the world purchased many paintings and prints by

   The fact that Japanese collectors also bought other stuff (some of it by Japanese artists) does nothing when it comes to solving the causal mystery of whether Japanese collectors in the 80's were so into buying 19th century Impressionist paintings for aesthetic reasons or for other reasons.

   2%