RC Question 2 Explanation
DISCUSSION: The author mentions perfume recipes in paragraph 3. The recipes are very complex. Presumably, once a perfume is a masterpiece, the recipe shouldn’t be altered. That would be as bad as editing one of Michelangelo’s paintings to suit modern styles.
The author mentions perfume modification, negatively, in paragraph 4. Perfume manufacturers have changed many classic recipes for the worse.
While the author wouldn’t want an original recipe change, he might accept a modification that brought one of those classic perfumes back to its original perfection.
___________
- Don’t be fooled. The author likes Joy Parfum, but that doesn’t mean that all perfume recipes would be improved by changing them to resemble Joy Parfum.
That would be like modifying Picasso’s paintings to make them look like Da Vinci’s. A bad idea. - The author dislikes modifications that get rid of costly but essential ingredients. See paragraph 4.
- This sounds tempting, but the author doesn’t think that perfumes should be all natural. Lines 17-18 show that good perfumes should have some synthetic ingredients.
- The author is interested in great art. Great art isn’t necessarily popular. Art criticism is an elite activity and doesn’t base itself on popular appeal.
- CORRECT. This fits with paragraph 4. The authors disapproves of the way that corporations modified classic perfumes by using cheaper ingredients. So the author is likely to approve of any modification that reverses those changes.
Re: D – Whether great art should or shouldn’t be popular would be outside the scope of the passage, no? Is there a way to eliminate this answer choice based on material in the passage itself?
That being said, the logic for E makes sense.
You can eliminate D precisely because we *don’t* have support for it. The author is concerned with art, so we have no evidence they’d like to modify a great formula in order to increase its appeal with the masses.
Focussing on the author’s opinion is a good tool for dealing with answers like this. The true reason D is wrong is because it has no support, but knowing the author’s taste in perfumes lets us suspect there won’t be support for any reason other than artistic reasons.
Note: This is an old comment but I wanted to clarify the point.