Summarize Argument
The author concludes that it’s likely the artist who painted a particular self-portrait was also the artist who painted a particular Renaissance painting depicing aristocrats in a historic battle. This conclusion is based on the fact that the self-portrait is dated to the same year that the other painting was dated, and that one of the figures depicted in the battle scene looks very similar to the person in the self-portrait.
Notable Assumptions
The argument assumes that if a self-portrait is dated to the same year that another painting was dated, and one of the figures in the other painting closely resembles the person in the self-portrait, then the same artist painted both paintings. The argument also assumes that the figure that closely resembles the artist in the battle scene painting is supposed to represent the artist.
A
The painting of the battle scene depicts several other people who appear to be roughly the same age as the man depicted in the self-portrait.
This has no clear impact on the argument. Other figures of similar ages doesn’t suggest that the same artist who painted the self-portrait would or would not have painted the battle scene.
B
Most of the figures depicted in the painting of the battle scene resemble real people from history.
So, most figures in the battle scene painting look like real people. But the artist who painted the self portrait was also a real person, so there’s nothing in (B) suggesting that artist wouldn’t have included a representation of himself in the battle scene.
C
It was not uncommon in the Renaissance for painters to use live models in depicting people in their paintings.
This tells us painters commonly used live models for depicting people in their paintings. These models could have been used to help painters draw body shapes or positions accurately. This doesn’t suggest the figure in the battle scene represents someone besides the painter.
D
It would have been a violation of etiquette for so young an artist to include himself among aristocrats in a painting of a historic battle.
This provides a reason to think the painter would not have included himself in the battle scene painting. This suggests that even though the figure looks like the person in the self-portrait, it was not a representation of the same person.
E
The historic battle that is the subject of the painting took place a number of years before the birth of the artist who painted the self-portrait.
Painters can paint scenes of battles that occurred many years ago. We have no reason to think the year the historic battle occurred has to be the same year the painting of that battle was made.
Cortez: But most people tip only for those services for which it is customary to tip. The fact that people don’t currently pay for articles and essays individually is a bad sign for anyone who hopes to earn money this way.
Speaker 1 Summary
Babson claims that charging people a dollar to read high-quality online articles will probably succeed, even though it’s a new idea. So why would it succeed? Because a dollar isn’t too much to charge, which is further supported by the fact that people will tip more than a dollar for various other services.
Speaker 2 Summary
Cortez thinks that current tipping practices, which don’t yet include paying for individual articles, are actually a sign that this idea may fail. This is because people generally only tip when there’s a custom of tipping for a particular service. This means that they may not tip for a new type of service.
Objective
We’re looking for a point of disagreement. Babson and Cortez disagree about whether current tipping culture predicts the success of this idea for charging for online articles.
A
people will routinely part with money under circumstances in which it is considered customary to do so
Both speakers most likely agree with this. Babson says people routinely tip for services, and we can reasonably assume that tipping is customary in at least some of those cases. Cortez says people only tip when it’s customary, and it’s fair to assume this is sometimes routine.
B
people in countries in which tipping is customary are more likely than people in other countries to be willing to pay a dollar to read individual articles and essays online
Like (C), neither speaker expresses this opinion. Their discussion is about what implications tipping culture would have for this model of charging for articles online, but they never talk about how this compares to countries where tipping isn’t customary.
C
it is possible to write articles and essays for which some people would pay a dollar each to read online even where social customs do not support such a practice
Like (B), neither speaker talks about this. The point at issue is whether social customs around tipping would truly support such a practice. Cultures without those social customs are just never discussed.
D
people’s attitudes toward tipping suggest that the idea of charging a dollar to read individual articles and essays online will be successful as long as their quality is high enough
Babson thinks that this is true but Cortez thinks it’s false: this is the point of disagreement. Babson uses tipping practices as support for the likely success of this new idea. Cortez, however, concludes that tipping practices are a “bad sign” for this idea.
E
most people are likely to find the idea of paying a dollar to read individual articles and essays online to be a novel one
Both speakers agree with this. Babson calls this idea “novel,” and Cortez talks about how most people do not currently engage in this method of paying for articles.