Self-study
P1
Given the amount of time and effort that curators, collectors, dealers, scholars, and critics spend on formulating judgments of taste in relation to oil paintings, it seems odd that so few are prepared to apply some of the same skills in exploring works of art that stimulate another sense altogether: that of smell. ███ ██ █████ ███████ ███ █████ ████ ██████████ █████ ███ █████████████ ███ ████ ███████ █████ ████ ████████ ██ ███████████ █████████████ ███ ██████ █ ████ ███ ██ ████ █ ██████████ █████████ ███ █████████ █████ █ ████ ██ ███ █████████ ███████ ██ ██████ ███ ████ ███ ███████ ███ ████ ███████████ ██ █████ █████████
Author's position ·
Perfume should be considered as art
Possibly the main point; this sounds like a conclusion that the author will the spend the rest of the passage supporting
P2
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Support author's position ·
Analogy between perfume and painting
Compares paint ingredients to perfume ingredients
Describe process ·
Painting
Built up in layers, with end product changing over time. The author began this paragraph with a discussion of analogy, so expect the next paragraph to show how the process of perfume-making is analogous to this.
P3
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Support author's position ·
Further analogy
Perfume-makers ("noses") choose different scent combinations (like different paints) to create certain moods; end product changes over time
Support author's position ·
More analogy
Perfumes have similar effects to paintings or music: they all create imaginary worlds and evoke memories
P4
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Hypothesis ·
Why others don't consider perfume as art
Commercialization of perfume undermines its quality
Author's perspective ·
Disapproves of commercialization of perfume
Passage Style
Phenomenon-hypothesis (RC)
Single position
1.
Which one of the following ████ ██████████ █████████ ███ ████ █████ ██ ███ ████████
Question Type
Main point
The author makes two central points. First, perfume should be considered an art and should be taken more seriously (P2 and P3). Second, one reason great perfume is undervalued might be that perfumes today are made by corporations (P4). The ideal main point answer would probably combine both points.
a
Despite their pursuit ██ ███████ ████████████ ████ ███████ ███ ██████ ████████ █████ ████████ ██████
The author doesn’t suggest that corporations that make perfumes value artistic skill.
b
A masterpiece perfume ██████ █████████ ████ ███ ██ ████ ████████ ████ █████ ██████ ██ █ ███████████ ██ █████ ██ █████████
This is too narrow. The
c
The corporate nature ██ ███ ███████ ████████ ██ ███ ██████ ████ ██ ███ █████ █████ ████████ ███ ███ █████████
This is too strong to be supported. The author says only that “one” reason perfumes might be undervalued is “perhaps” the corporate nature of perfume-making.
d
Great perfumes are █████ ██ ███ ███ ███████ ███████ ███ █████████ ██ █████
This is the best answer. This is the implicit point of the first three paragraphs. The author presents parallels between perfume and other things recognized to be art to convey the point that perfume-making should be considered an art. In addition, the presents a
e
Perfume-making and oil ████████ ██████ ██ ████████ ██ ██████ █████ ████ ██ █████ ███████ ███ ███████ ███████████ ██ ███████ ██████████████ ██ ████████████
This is too narrow. The author agrees with (E), but uses it as a supporting claim for the broader point that perfume-making should be taken more seriously as an art form. The main point isn’t about a comparison between perfume-making and oil painting. The author uses this comparison to make a point about perfume-making.