PrepTest 154, Section 2, Question 22
Art critic: All of Dolores Albarran's oil paintings(35 more words not shown)
If all of the art(13 more words not shown)
- AMost of Albarran's(10 more words not shown)
- BFew of the(9 more words not shown)
- CMost, if not(12 more words not shown)
- DMost, if not(9 more words not shown)
- EFew or none(8 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Original doesn't necessarily mean popular. Every oil painting is highly original, but few win critical acclaim or popularity with collectors. Those are separate descriptions, so don't quietly turn originality into success.
The useful connection is what the other statements tell us about originality. Albarran produced no highly original work until late in her career. Since every oil painting is highly original, her oil paintings must come from that late period.
That doesn't mean everything she made late in her career was an oil painting; she could have produced other kinds of work then too.
Now consider the abstract works. Few show much originality, so most of that group cannot belong to a category whose every member is highly original. Oil paintings are just such a category.
What we’re looking for
For the must-be-true question, follow those connections while keeping track of which group we're talking about. We can limit where the oil paintings fit among the works. We can't assume that a statement about oil paintings also describes all her drawings, sculptures, or other works.
Working the answers
- A
We know the oil paintings are highly original and few are popular with collectors. But the unpopular works might include many drawings, sculptures, or other kinds of art about which we know nothing. A makes a claim about most unpopular works overall. The oil-painting facts don't establish that proportion.
- B
We know highly original work came late. We don't know how many abstract works she made during that late period. She could have made many abstract works then, including many that weren't original. The timing of originality doesn't give us the timing of all abstract work.
- C
All the oil paintings must be late works, but that doesn't make most late works oil paintings. Imagine a late period with a few oil paintings and many drawings. Every oil painting could belong to that period while oil paintings remained a small share of it. C switches the group whose members we're counting.
- DCorrect
Most abstract works don't show much originality, while all oil paintings are highly original. Those less-original abstract works therefore cannot be oil paintings. That establishes that most abstract works aren't oil paintings; possibly none are.
For a simple illustration, imagine 100 abstract works, only 10 of which show much originality. The other 90 couldn't be oil paintings under the critic's rule. We don't need the actual count. The example shows why the restriction applies to the abstract group, without telling us what proportion of all oil paintings are abstract.
- E
Few oil paintings being acclaimed doesn't mean few acclaimed works are original. Perhaps the small number of acclaimed oil paintings make up much of her acclaimed work. We aren't told the composition of that larger group. E tries to read a statement about acclaim among oil paintings as a statement about originality among acclaimed works.
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