PrepTest 156 - Section 1 - Passage 2 - Question 9

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Passage A.

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Question · What public interest do tax-funded art subsidies serve?

If nothing, then art should be exclusively funded through the private sector.

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Conclusion · Public art subsidy is justified

Premise 1 · To ensure equitable access to arts

Private funding will not ensure equitable access

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Premise 2 · To build social capital

By creating opportunities for citizens to come together and thereby increase civic involvement

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Concession · Public art subsidy has incidental benefits

Premise · Justification requires showing direct benefit to taxpayers

Requires more people having more enjoyment

Premise · Unlikely to meet that requirement

Because the general public's taste in art won't be the same as the selection committees that distribute the funding.

Premise · Public good argument doesn't apply

Culture is not a public good

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Premise · Income argument fails

If the concern is income inequality, then fix that.

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Conclusion · Public art subsidies are unjustified

Passage Style

Which one of the following ██████████ █████████ ████ █████████

Question Type

Implied

Principle or generalization

Split Approach: After passage A, eliminate any answer choices that describe a principle that does not underly passage A. Then, after passage B, eliminate any remaining answer choices that describe a principle that does not underly passage B. There will only be one answer choice containing a principle that underlies both passages.

Sequential Approach: This one is hard to predict, since the authors argue for opposing conclusions. We should use POE on the answer choices, choosing the one principle that underlies both passages.

The arts should █████ ████████ ███████ █████████ ██████████

Author A argues that public funding for the arts should serve purposes besides aesthetic enjoyment; they should serve the public interest. She doesn’t say anything about what purposes the arts themselves should serve. This is enough reason to eliminate (A). Author B also only discusses the purpose that public funding should serve, not the purpose that the arts themselves should serve.

Public funding of █ ███████ ██ ███████████ ████ ██ ██ ██████ ███ ██████ █████

This principle underlies both passages. Author A argues that public funding for the arts is only justifiable if it serves the public good. She thinks that arts subsidies are justifiable, since they serve the public good by providing more equitable access to the arts and by building social capital. Author B also argues that public funding for the arts is only justifiable if it serves the public good. He thinks that arts subsidies are not justifiable, since they wouldn’t allow more people to enjoy better art.

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People's aesthetic choices ██████ ███ ██ ████████ ██ █████

Author A doesn’t say anything about people’s individual aesthetic choices or whether these choices should be dictated to them. This is enough reason to eliminate (C). Author B does think that people’s aesthetic choices shouldn’t be dictated to them, but this is not a principle that underlies both passages.

Participatory cultural events ███ █████████ ███ █ ███████████ █████████

In P3, author A does say that participatory cultural events build social capital, but she doesn’t go so far as to suggest that they’re essential for a community’s cohesion. This is enough reason to eliminate (D). Also, author B doesn’t say anything at all about the connection between participatory cultural events and community cohesion.

Culture is a ██████ ████ ████ ████ ██ ███████ █████████ ██ ████

In P2, author A argues that public funding for the arts is justifiable because it allows for more equitable access to the arts. But she doesn’t go so far as to suggest that culture must be entirely equally available to everyone. This is enough reason to eliminate (E). Also, author B explicitly argues that culture is not a public good that must be equally available to all.

PrepTest 156 - Section 1 - Passage 2 - Question 9

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