NYCgirl15 wrote:
Those who feel that fewer and fewer people in this country have a genuine interest in the fine arts are absolutely correct. This is true despite the oft-mentioned record levels of attendance at art museums.
The argument above would be most strengthened if which of the following statements were true?
A. The increase in the number of people who visit art museums more than once has been greater than the increase in the number of visits to these museums.
B. An interest in the fine arts cannot be determined by examining levels of museum attendance.
C. A substantial and relatively consistent portion of the visitors to this country's art museums are, and always have been, international tourists.
D. Sales of art books have declined sharply.
E. Art museums in this country now display a much wider range of exhibits than was once the case.
Conclusion: Fewer and fewer people in this country have a genuine interest in the fine arts.
Evidence: The evidence—record levels of attendance at art museums—seems to contradict the conclusion. The task is to reconcile this apparent discrepancy.
If the increase in the number of repeat visitors has been greater than the increase in the number of visits, then fewer people are going to museums, despite the increase in visits. This supports the author's conclusion that fewer people are interested in the arts. Imagine 1,000 visits in a week for one museum, 10 of which are by people who show up twice during that week. That's 990 individual people who have gone to the museum. Then imagine that the next week there are 1,200 visits (an increase of 200 visits), and the number of repeaters that week is 220, (an increase of 210 repeaters). That represents only 980 individual people going to the museum.
If an interest in the arts cannot be determined by looking at museum attendance, then this would weaken the argument, (B). If tourist attendance is relatively consistent as a portion of total visitors, then this doesn't have any known impact on the argument, (C). Literature of any sort, (D) is out of scope, as is the range of exhibits (E), unless we were told that fine art was not being displayed.