PrepTest 122, Section 4, Question 13
It is due to a misunderstanding that most(49 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(8 more words not shown)
- AThe natural beauty(16 more words not shown)
- BModern sculpture has(7 more words not shown)
- CAncient sculptures were(9 more words not shown)
- DSome ancient paintings(6 more words not shown)
- EAs modern sculptors(15 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Maybe modern sculptors copied what they thought ancient sculptors had done. They saw unpainted sculptures and reproduced that appearance, not realizing the original paint had washed away.
That would explain how the misunderstanding led to modern sculpture being monochromatic—one color. But are modern sculptors actually following the ancient example? The passage tells us what people misunderstood about the old sculptures. It doesn't yet connect that belief to the decisions behind the new ones.
What we’re looking for
Imagine modern sculptors choosing unpainted marble simply because they like it, with no influence from ancient sculpture. The historical mistake could still have happened, but it wouldn't explain their choices. For the necessary-assumption question, we need the influence connecting the mistaken belief to modern work. We don't need to show that every sculptor copied an ancient piece.
Working the answers
- A
The material's natural beauty could contribute to a sculpture's effect, or the sculpture could work through some other feature. The argument doesn't depend on that beauty. It depends on whether beliefs about ancient sculptures influenced modern choices. A might suggest a separate reason to leave a material unpainted, but it doesn't supply the required connection.
- BCorrect
If modern sculpture had not been influenced at all by beliefs about ancient sculpture, this historical misunderstanding couldn't explain its monochromatic appearance. B supplies the influence the explanation requires. It is broad enough to allow different artists to have been influenced in different ways without demanding that every modern sculpture be a direct copy.
- C
Ancient sculptures were susceptible to moisture: that's why their paint disappeared. Nothing requires them to have been more susceptible than modern sculptures. Both could be equally vulnerable, or modern work could be even more vulnerable, without changing the story about what early observers misunderstood.
- D
Paintings of sculptures might be one possible source of information about how they once looked. But the explanation doesn't depend on early archaeologists knowing such paintings. We are told what they believed when they found the sculptures and what we now believe, without needing this particular route to that knowledge.
- E
Learning the history doesn't require modern sculptors to change their work. Suppose the misunderstanding initially influenced them, but they have since come to love the one-color style. They might keep making it even after learning that ancient sculptures were painted. An explanation of how a practice began isn't a guarantee about how people will respond to corrected information.
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