RC Question 10 Explanation
DISCUSSION: On most strongly supported questions, you will literally be able to find the answer in the passage. Make sure you know how to find things quickly, this allows you to confirm questions like this.
___________
- This answer contradicts the passage. Line 1 says Gray was best known for her lacquer work, only.
- Unclear. It sounds like Gray may have personally constructed some lacquer works, but that doesn’t mean she personally built, say, her tubular steel furniture (she may only have designed them). Steel work and wood work are different skills, and Gray may not have been a master of everything. Even if she had, it’s common for eminent artists to have assistants create some of their designs once they grow too busy to make everything themselves.
In any case, the passage never addressed this one way or another. -
This isn’t mentioned! Art Nouveau was in style, but:
- Maybe it used wood sometimes
- That doesn’t mean people scorned anything which wasn’t Art Nouveau. Lacquer furniture has been popular for a long time!
- This isn’t supported. We know some of Gray’s lacquer work was in private apartments, but she may also have made pieces for public exposition.
- CORRECT. Lines 51-56 show an example of this. The table was made to look good in either location, and also clearly was functional in that you could have it in or out. And the furniture described in lines 37-39 had a clear visual aesthetic but also met the needs of the occupants.
My opinion is that both answers, B and E are not perfect. The only difference is the structure of the answer and the question stem itself. Most is 50% plus, in B-> too strong, “Much” is more than 1+, vague and safe for a stem that asks us ” most strongly supports”. I think it’s safe to go with Much, as it is a boring and safer answer choice even tho not perfect.
Good analysis. The other thing about B is that personal construction is highly specific, and archtects and designers often don’t actually craft the things they design. I suspect the norm is actually for designers NOT to personally construct their pieces. In any event words such as “made” and “produced” in the context of a designer could easily refer to studios or even just to her as the head of production of contract work. And you’re right that most is also vital: I’d say it decisively eliminates B once you add on the uncertainty of design work.
E is better not only because of much, but also because it merely describes the work and not the specifics of how it was made.
It seems modern Reading Comp is very reaching when trying to defend a right answer. According to dictionary.com, “ornamental” means “serving or intended as an ornament; decorative. synonyms: decorative, fancy, ornate, ornamented”. This is the opposite of Gray’s work which “[preferred] the austere beauty of straight lines and simple forms juxtaposed” (16-17). Also, “She often used modern materials… though visually austere, met their occupants’ needs” (37-39). According to dictionary.com, “austere” is defined as “having an extremely plain and simple style or appearance; unadorned.” I am having a very hard time justifying E. “Ornamental” is more descriptive of the Art Nouvea movement, which used “flowing leafy lines” (15). Is there something I am missing? How can I avoid getting a question like this wrong on the test?
Thank you!
Dictionary.com isn’t a great source, especially in synonyms. I prefer the oxford dictionary. If you have a mac, that’s what the built in dictionary uses. They’re wrong: ornate and ornamental are not synonyms, even though something ornate *can* be an ornament.
To your question, the only way to avoid this is knowing the words, I think. Or, reading around them in the passage for context. Or thinking or ornaments, and whether they could be simple, etc.
(I have seen many extremely simple ornaments, so common sense shows dictionary.com is using too loose a definition of synonyms.)