Q7

[ganbayou]

I see why C is the correct answer but why is B wrong?
It seems very tempting too...
I thought intangible characteristic is in L41 and it refers to Vermeer, so it means the true value right?

[ohthatpatrick]

Question Type:
Main Idea

Answer expected in lines/paragraph:
The passage begins by telling a story which leads into the central questions of the passage, in lines 23-26. The most valuable sentence is lines 26-28, because the author says she endorses Lessing's answer ("convincing" answers).

Any prephrase?
We should try to prephrase Lessing's answer to the question, since that is the closest thing to the author's main point: forgeries may demonstrate tons of talent and skill, but they're aesthetically inferior in the sense that the artist didn't invent the style she's forging.

Correct answer:
C

Answer choice analysis:

(A) The passage is not about a specific painting; it's about the aesthetic value of forgeries.

(B) This was hinted at, but it's incredibly narrow. It doesn't say anything about "forged artwork", which is the central topic of the passage.

(C) This looks good. It has Lessing's, and thus the author's, answer to the central question of whether forgeries deserve to be downgraded.

(D) This sounds very narrow and has nothing to do with answering the central questions.

(E) Again, where is "forgery" in this answer? That is the main character in the passage.

Takeaway/Pattern: Sometimes just reminding yourself of the central topic is enough to clear out some answers. B and E didn't mention the central topic, and A was judging the aesthetic merits of a specific painting, not of forgery in general.

#officialexplanation

[HughM388]

Question Type:
Main Idea

Answer expected in lines/paragraph:
The passage begins by telling a story which leads into the central questions of the passage, in lines 23-26. The most valuable sentence is lines 26-28, because the author says she endorses Lessing's answer ("convincing" answers).

Any prephrase?
We should try to prephrase Lessing's answer to the question, since that is the closest thing to the author's main point: forgeries may demonstrate tons of talent and skill, but they're aesthetically inferior in the sense that the artist didn't invent the style she's forging.

Correct answer:
C

Answer choice analysis:

(A) The passage is not about a specific painting; it's about the aesthetic value of forgeries.

(B) This was hinted at, but it's incredibly narrow. It doesn't say anything about "forged artwork", which is the central topic of the passage.

(C) This looks good. It has Lessing's, and thus the author's, answer to the central question of whether forgeries deserve to be downgraded.

(D) This sounds very narrow and has nothing to do with answering the central questions.

(E) Again, where is "forgery" in this answer? That is the main character in the passage.

Takeaway/Pattern: Sometimes just reminding yourself of the central topic is enough to clear out some answers. B and E didn't mention the central topic, and A was judging the aesthetic merits of a specific painting, not of forgery in general.

#officialexplanation

I disagree that (B) is "incredibly narrow." I actually think it's conceptually more broad than (C), and appealing on that basis. (C), meanwhile, appeared to me to be itself extremely narrow for a "main point" answer; but (C) addresses forgery, which (B) does not, and so despite its meagerness—its narrowness—I ultimately selected (C).