Strengthening questions

Comments

• Sami Yearly + Live Member Sage ⭐ 7Sage Tutor

  May 2017 10806 karma

  @rogersalexandra7 said:
  I know the task for the strengthening questions is to find a question that represents the flaw in the reasoning but then Ive noticed that some of the correct answers to the questions aren't the flaws for example, one questions states, " During the 1980s, Japanese collectors were very active in the market for european art and then it says the striking pattern surely reflects a specific preference on the part of many Japanese collectors" I paraphrased it because Im not sure if Im allowed to post the whole question here. So I thought the flaw was that there could be another explanation as to why they chose the art, maybe the art was cheaper than most art. and I chose the correct answer (C) which states, " several 19th cent. impressionists painters adopted certain techniques and visual effects found in Japanese prints that are highly esteemed in Japan" but the answer choice (D) says one of the flaws " during the 1960s and 1970s, the prices of 19th cent. impressionist paintings often exceeded the prices of paintings by older european masters", So my question is that for the strengthening questions are there different tasks for each questions? Thank you in advance!

  Our premise like you said is : Japanese collectors were active
  Conclusion: This collection represents a preference on part of these Japanese collectors.

  Answer choice "C" is giving us an additional reason why the reason these Japanese collectors were collecting these paintings. It was because it had certain things found in Japanese prints that were esteemed.
  This answer choice makes it more likely that it was indeed the preference of the Japanese collectors that resulted in them being active.

  Answer choice "D" is saying that these paintings were higher in costs. There can be two ways this answer choice can be taken. In one way it's weakening the answer choice. The cost of these paintings was high because there was more demand for it. In this way it was not the preference but the market demand that lead the Japanese collectors to be more active. Or you might be thinking that since it's not cheaper it rules out an alternate explanation to why it is indeed the preference of the Japanese collectors. But we don't know what a high cost actually means and going one way or another is a big leap and assumption. The cost argument can go both ways and unless stated in the premise what the cost implies, more value or less, we can't make that assumption.

  I think you are on the right track by how you approach the questions. The flaw in the argument was pretty big -just because a certain people were active in something does not mean it reflects a specific preference on their part. There could be other explanations. It might have been European fashion or they wanted to display it back home etc. Each could imply not a preference on their part. Answer choice C simply brings froth an additional reason why it was the preference. Answer choice "D" could have been correct had it been more specific about what the high cost actually means.

  I think you have the right way to go about this question type. I would just be more careful in making an assumption when reading an answer choice.