#1 - Curator: Critics have rightly claimed that removing

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation

Strengthen—PR. The correct answer choice is (C)

The museum curator discusses the detrimental effects of removing the grime from Michelangelo’s
frescoes: as critics have pointed out, this process of removing a layer of grime that has been present
for centuries exposes the artworks to acids that form in the air from pollution and water vapor.

In spite of the fact that the grime removal will expose the art to acids in the air, since the frescoes
cannot currently be seen as they looked in Michelangelo’s day, the curator asserts that the grime
removal should continue nonetheless. The argument can be broken down into its basic components
as follows:

Premise: Removal of centuries-old grime will expose Michelangelo’s frescoes to acids
that form in the air.

Counter-premise: However, without the restoration, the frescoes cannot be seen as they
originally appeared.

Conclusion: Thus, the restoration should continue.

The question that follows asks for the principle that strengthens the argument presented in the
stimulus. The correct answer choice will provide support for the assertion that the restoration should
continue.

Answer choice (A): The author’s conclusion is not based on greatness, it is based on the fact that
the frescoes in their present condition cannot be appreciated as they were originally created. Since
this choice does not help to justify the curator’s argument, it cannot be the correct answer to this
Strengthen question.

Answer choice (B): This choice provides that an artwork’s aesthetic value requires people to observe
and appreciate it. This is not applicable to this stimulus, because the author does not claim that the
frescoes are not being observed and appreciated. The point, rather, is that they are not able to be
observed in their original condition. This principle does not strengthen the curator’s argument, so it
should be ruled out of contention.

Answer choice (C): This is the correct answer choice. If, as this principle provides, future risk is
acceptable to allow a work of art to be appreciated in its original form, this strengthens the curators’
assertion that the restoration should continue despite the possibly detrimental exposure to the
elements.

Answer choice (D): The curator does not mention the price of the restoration, and the principle in
this answer choice does not reference the curator’s primary justification for the restoration: the fact
that the frescoes cannot currently be seen as they were originally created. Since this principle does
not strengthen the author’s argument, it cannot be the right answer to this Strengthen—PR question.

Answer choice (E): The curator is not concerned with the frescoes’ being regarded as the same
artwork; rather, the curator’s concern is that in their current condition, the frescoes cannot be seen as
they looked when they were created by the artist.

[ray57]

Hello,

I don't understand why C is the answer here. C says "It is acceptable to risk future damage to an artwork if the purpose is to enable it to be appreciated in its original form" but the last sentence in the stimulus states that "frescoes in their present condition cannot be seen as they appeared when painted..." so doesn't that mean that the frescoes are not in their original form? I put choice A because the restoration would allow the fresoces to be viewed better without the grime. I'd appreciate your help on this one.

Thank you!

[Jeremy Press]

Hi ray57,

You're absolutely right that the last sentence of the stimulus means that the frescoes "in their present condition" are not in their original form. But why is that? It's because they've been covered with centuries' worth of grime (as the first sentence tells us). What is the restoration project intended to do? Remove that grime, in order to restore the frescoes to their original form. That's why answer choice C works, because it says, "If the purpose is to enable it [the artwork in question] to be appreciated in its original form..." The purpose of the restoration project is to remove the grime from the artwork, thereby enabling it to be appreciated in its original form.

The reason answer choice A is not necessarily applicable as a rule to the stimulus is that we do not know from the stimulus (and we are not allowed to import any outside assumption) that the frescoes in question are "great" by aesthetic standards. The argument gives us no basis for making that judgment. Since the argument does not let us decide whether these frescoes are great, the rule in answer choice A will not necessarily lead to the outcome dictated by the curator's argument (because if it turns out that the frescoes are not "great" by aesthetic standards, then the curator would have to reach a different conclusion).

I hope this helps!

Jeremy