PrepTest 136, Section 4, Question 19
Editor Y: This is a good photograph: the(41 more words not shown)
The editors' dialogue provides the(13 more words not shown)
- Aa photograph's composition(9 more words not shown)
- Ba photograph that(9 more words not shown)
- Ca photograph that(7 more words not shown)
- Dattractiveness by itself(7 more words not shown)
- Eattractive composition and(5 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
They both find something visually appealing in the photo, but they reach opposite verdicts about its quality.
Y likes the composition, including the smoke blurring one corner, and calls the photograph good. Z calls it pretty but bad, because it makes no statement and the smoke has no obvious reason to be there. 'Pretty' and 'attractive' are doing similar work here; Z is not denying the visual appeal.
What we’re looking for
My first prediction is the most direct disagreement: is this a good photograph? There is also a disagreement about the value of the smoke. Y treats it as a positive feature, while Z wants a reason for it beyond how it looks. The answer may express that conflict more generally, but we need to be able to give each editor a position on it.
Working the answers
- A
Z's criticism suggests that composition should have a point, but Y does not tell us whether the composition should relate to a statement. Y might think this photograph does make one. We cannot turn Y's silence on that issue into a definite opposing view.
- B
Neither editor discusses an unattractive photograph. Their example is visually appealing; the disagreement concerns whether that is enough for it to be good. A claim about good photographs that lack attractiveness asks a different question.
- C
Z clearly allows this: the photograph is pretty even though it makes no statement. But Y never says whether it makes a statement. We therefore cannot establish that Y disagrees with Z on this claim.
- DCorrect
This captures the deeper disagreement behind their opposing verdicts. Y offers attractiveness as the reason the photograph is good. Z accepts that it is pretty but rejects that as enough: without a statement or an apparent reason for the smoke, the photograph is still bad. They disagree about whether attractiveness alone can establish quality.
- E
The editors are not arguing over whether 'attractive composition' and 'prettiness' name the same feature. They can acknowledge the same visual appeal and still disagree about the photograph's merit. E shifts from their standards for a good photograph to a vocabulary dispute they do not have.
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