PT79.S.Q13 - best known for her work with lacquer

haleigh148

Did anyone pick A because they saw "laquered bricks" (line 32) when describing Gray's later works? Confused as to why A cannot be correct - I would've chosen B had I not narrowed in on line 32. Thanks!
https://7sage.com/lsat_explanations/lsat-79-section-2-passage-2-passage/
https://7sage.com/lsat_explanations/lsat-79-section-2-passage-2-questions/

dantlee14

Hi Haleigh;

This was definitely a really tough RC passage. For question 13, I was tempted by A as well; it seems textually supported, and line 32 is a huge red herring (as is line 37/8). But I think it's useful here (and in general on RC) to take a step back and look at the structure and point of that paragraph; it's more about illustrating the transition from Gray's early work to her later work in interior design and architecture, and how elements of lacquering - although not always readily apparent - was critical in all of her work throughout her career.

The fact that she used lacquer on non-traditional materials like brick seems less like a guiding principle in her work in interior design, and more like an example of the "tension between aesthetic demands and structural requirements" (lines 20-21), which I saw as the main point of that paragraph. That point is repeated again in reference to tubular steel (lines 37-39); it's not necessarily important that she used that specific material (and it doesn't actually say that she used traditional lacquering techniques on steel; i.e. an intricately layered paint), but instead used it to create furniture that although "visually austere, meet their occupants' needs."

B, on the other hand, is pretty much rephrasing lines 41-43, and very strongly supported by the entirety of the final paragraph. And because it's stated that "Gray did not believe one should divorce the interior from the exterior," I found it more likely that this idea was an actual guiding principle in her work as an architect.

I should add a warning that I by no means got this passage perfect on the first try; but that was how I basically reasoned through question 13, and found B a much more attractive option in the end.