Craft and StructureHardEvaluating how a second text bears on a first
Craft and Structure practice question
Text 1
Because the fresco's pigments match those used in the city's workshops in the 1480s, art historians attribute it to a local painter of that decade.
Text 2
Chemical analysis of the fresco's plaster shows that it was applied over an earlier layer datable to the 1520s, which means the visible painting must be later still.
Based on the texts, how does Text 2 bear on the attribution described in Text 1?
- A. It undermines the attribution, since a painting made after the 1520s cannot be the work of a painter of the 1480s.Correct
- B. It confirms the attribution by dating the pigments.
- C. It shows that the fresco was painted in a different city.
- D. It has no bearing, because it concerns the plaster rather than the paint.
Answer: A. It undermines the attribution, since a painting made after the 1520s cannot be the work of a painter of the 1480s.
A painting on top of a 1520s layer postdates the 1480s.
Why the other answers are wrong
- B. It confirms the attribution by dating the pigments.
- Text 2 dates the plaster, not the pigments, and it contradicts the date.
- C. It shows that the fresco was painted in a different city.
- Location is not discussed.
- D. It has no bearing, because it concerns the plaster rather than the paint.
- What lies beneath the paint fixes the earliest possible date of the paint.
More Craft and Structure questions
- Hard
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Which choice best describes the function of the underlined final sentence in the text as a whole? - Hard
Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text? - Hard
Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word? - Hard
Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word? - Hard
What is the main purpose of the text?
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