Reading Comprehension

PT147 · S3 · P2 · Q13 Artistic and Cultural Patrimony in Mali

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The government of Mali passed a law against excavating and exporting the wonderful terra-cotta sculptures from the old city of Djenne-jeno, but it could not enforce it.

Topic

The problem of looting Djenne-jeno's ancient sculptures, restrictive cultural property laws, and whether a more practical, regulated approach could have protected Mali’s heritage more effectively.

Framework

Problem / Solution

Main Point

Efforts to protect Mali's Djenne-jeno antiquities through restrictive laws and international doctrines (like UNESCO’s) unintentionally led to damaging looting and loss of information, and a more flexible, regulated approach might have been more effective. Most Valuable Sentence: The final paragraph’s rhetorical question () most directly captures the author’s main point.

P1: The Scope of the Looting Problem

Mali made laws to protect its historic sculptures, but these laws couldn't be enforced, so many valuable pieces were illegally taken and sold, resulting in lost archaeological knowledge.

P2: UNESCO and Protective Cultural Property Laws

International condemnation and UNESCO-led doctrine have emphasized that artifacts should be the property of the nation/culture they come from, prompting many countries to ban export and claim antiquities as state property.

P3: Unintended Consequences of Strict Regulation

While it’s rational for Mali to want control, these strict regulatory systems can ironically prevent proper recording and preservation of artifacts because people want to avoid creating documentation that could incriminate them or lead to confiscation.

13.

Which one of the following is an element of the author's attitude toward foreign collectors of terra-cotta sculptures from Djenne-jeno?

appreciation of their efforts to
Opposite, if anything
The author doesn't indicate that she considers these rich collectors to be "preserving" these cultural artifacts. In fact, the following sentence (last of the 1st paragraph) is lamenting how these sculptures ended up in the possession of the collectors, rather than ending up in possession of researchers, fearing that now we will not be able to preserve as much knowledge about this culture.
4% picked this
Correct
approval of their aesthetic judgment
Why this is right
This is supported by the fact that the author says these terra-cotta sculptures are "wonderful" (1st sentence) and then says that the foreign collectors "rightly admired them" (3rd sentence).
Skill tested: Author's Attitude · how this choice captures the passage's function is the move to repeat next time.
65% picked this
dismay at their failure to
Too Strong: dismay at their failure
There's no text in this first paragraph that calls out these collectors for failing to report their illegal art dealer to the cops. It's not clear that the foreign collectors have any idea they're doing anything wrong. The people selling them the sculptures may be lying and pretending that the sculptures were legally excavated and exported.
10% picked this
frustration with their lack of
Out of Scope
Out of Scope: lack of concern for Mali There's no text in this first paragraph that calls out these collectors for failing to care about the people in Mali. It's not clear that the foreign collectors even know that buying one of these sculptures would be harming or concerning the people of Mali in any way.
9% picked this
sympathy with their motives
Out of Scope: motives
This is very similar to (B). We know the author thinks these sculptures are wonderful and that the collectors are right to admire them. So, seemingly it's not that crazy an idea to say this author would sympathize with their motive for buying these sculptures. "Even though it sucks that these foreign collectors deprived Mali the opportunity to learn from these artifacts, I sympathize with the motive of a foreign collector who wanted to own one of these wonderful sculptures." This notion is just a little more speculative than (B). Here, we have to assume that the collectors were motivated to own some wonderful art, in order to think that the author would sympathize with them. But if the collectors are planning to re-sell them, or if they were aware they were buying black market art and still did it ... the author might stop sympathizing with their motives. Since we don't really hear anything about their motives for buying the sculptures, only about their aesthetic admiration of the sculptures, we have a more supportable option in (B). I think this answer is reasonable enough that it might be a credited response, if it were actually the best available answer.
12% picked this

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