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annguyen02

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23 Jan 2025, 10:43

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fcyildirim

Hi, I'm having trouble to understand the correct answer also. Can anyone explain why is not 1) exotic 2) worth paying ?. Also, since the historian states that "the great botanical centers of the time gave the artists direct access to such flowers," the answer could be 1)exotic 2) accesible. Can someone explain why these choices are not correct?

Also fell for the trap so here is my 2 cents after trying to understand.

Quote:

seventeenth-century Dutch artists specializing in flower paintings almost exclusively chose to depict exotic species of flowers from outside the local area. Painting such species was worthwhile primarily because the art-buying public had developed a strong preference for images of the exotic.

It follows: the art-buying public had developed a strong preference for images of the exotic ---(explicitly stated with the word because)---> painting such species was worthwhile ---(implicitly in my mind)---> artist chose to paint exotic flowers

So when I got to the statement, I chose exotic -> worth painting based on my thinking process. I don't think it was wrong in the real world, but given the question stem said "most strongly supported by the information provided" -> what I interpreted in my mind was not as strong as what was clearly stated in the passage.

tdew

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09 Apr 2025, 03:08

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IMO,

"Painting such species was worthwhile primarily because the art-buying public had developed a strong preference for images of the exotic".

Compare these two options.

1. they were worth painting largely because they were exotic.
2. they were exotic largely because they were worth painting.

For option 2, how could flower species be exotic because they were worth painting? That doesn't make sense, does it?

It's clear that these flowers were worth painting because they were unusual and couldn't be seen in daily life.

Khushe

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16 Oct 2025, 00:34

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GMATCoachBen

Hi Ben, I understand that the options "worth painting" and "exotic" fit the blanks, but I am having a hard time discarding options "1 - accessible" and "2 - exotic" when considering the entire passage. Could you please help me understand the same?

GMATCoachBen

Short video solution here (2:47):

This problem highlights a key habit for Two-Part Analysis Verbal, especially "Complete the Statement" questions: check whether we are looking for a specific relationship between the two answer choices, rather than answering each choice separately. Here, the relationship is __1__ BECAUSE __2__.

Bunuel

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16 Oct 2025, 01:21

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Khushe

The art historian states that painting these species was "worthwhile primarily because the art-buying public had developed a strong preference for images of the exotic." This directly supports the statement that the species were worth painting largely because they were exotic.

1. worth painting
2. exotic

Why not 1 = accessible, 2 = exotic:

The passage mentions that botanical centers made the flowers "accessible," but this is not the point the historian makes about why the artists chose them. The historian is clear that the primary reason for the choice was their exotic nature, which made them "worth painting." "Accessible" describes how they obtained the flowers, not why they selected them in the first place. Therefore, "accessible" does not correctly complete the statement about the historian's main point.