Zachary: The term “fresco” refers to paint that has been applied to we

Clear option A. Stephen counters Zachary's argument by questioning his assumption that removing other painters' additions will leave us with Michelangelo's original work. It won't because Angelo himself might have created multiple versions, which cannot be separated out to reach the original.

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GMATNinja VeritasKarishma chetan2u
Hi,,
I think (D) is correct and not (A).
That the other painters have made additions on the original fresco is not an assumption but a part of the premise since it has been clearly stated in the argument made by Zachary. Stephen implies that Michelangelo himself might have made those additions....So Stephen does not call into question an assumption made by Zachary but he denies a stated premise from Zachary's argument.

Pls provide ur thoughts

Z: Additions known to have been made by later painters have obscured the original fresco work done by Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel.
Conclusion: To restore Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel paintings to the appearance that Michelangelo intended them to have, everything except the original fresco work must be stripped away.

S: But many painters of that era used to add details to their own fresco work.

Basically, S is saying that Z is making an assumption when he says that the added details on top were done by other painters. Many painters used to add details so perhaps Michelangelo did it on his own. So perhaps he intended them to appear the way they appear and not plain fresco.

When the author gives you some data, it has to be taken to be true. But when the author quotes someone, you don't have to take what that someone said to be true. It would be true that Z said these things. But is everything that Z said true, we can't say.
e.g. if the author says "A doesn't know anything about the episode," we need to take it to be true. But if author says "A says he doesn't know anything about the episode," it is necessary that A doesn't know anything? We can't say.

Stephen’s response to Zachary proceeds by

(A) calling into question an assumption on which Zachary’s conclusion depends

Z's conclusion "to restore it the way Michelangelo intended, we should strip off all details" is based on the assumption that Michelangelo did not intend it to look like this by himself adding details. So S does call into question Z's assumption.

(B) challenging the definition of a key term in Zachary reaches

S challenges no term.

(C) drawing a conclusion other than the one that Zachary reaches

S does not reach any conclusion. He only questions Z's assumption.

(D) denying the truth of one of the stated premises of Zachary’s argument

Note that S does not deny the truth of Z's statement. He does not say that the additions were made by Michelangelo himself. He only says that painter of that era were known to make additions to their own fresco work. So he questions Z's statement.

(E) demonstrating that Zachary’s conclusion is not consistent with the premises he uses to support it

No consistency problem.

Answer (A)

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