Art instructor: People who believe that they lack the ability to draw

Question

Art instructor: People who believe that they lack the ability to draw well are often hampered by their own mindset. For example, many of these individuals, when attempting to draw a reasonably accurate picture of an object, will approach the task with painstaking care and a tight grip on their pen or pencil. When encouraged to relax, to use a more flowing line, and to not get bogged down with exact proportions and shapes, which can always be modified later, the results are usually better by the individual’s own reckoning.

The art instructor statements, if true, most strongly support which of the following conclusions?

A. With proper encouragement, anyone can learn to produce a competent drawing.
B. Individuals who draw while holding their pen or pencil tightly will not be able to draw skillfully.
C. Learning to draw is mostly a matter of having the correct mindset.
D. Nearly everyone draws better when one is not concerned with what others think. 
E. Individuals who lack confidence in their drawing skills usually produce better work when not trying too hard to replicate a figure.

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Question 87: Learning to Draw

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Shikhar22 · Answer

Answer Choice E.

Because it’s airtight and sums up the given stem perfectly.

B runs close, but the language in B is definitive and thus it’s a no no. Only because, nowhere in the stem the author argues in a definitive tone!

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winterschool · Answer

Art instructor: People who believe that they lack the ability to draw well are often hampered by their own mindset. For example, many of these individuals, when attempting to draw a reasonably accurate picture of an object, will approach the task with painstaking care and a tight grip on their pen or pencil. When encouraged to relax, to use a more flowing line, and to not get bogged down with exact proportions and shapes, which can always be modified later, the results are usually better by the individual’s own reckoning.

The art instructor statements, if true, most strongly support which of the following conclusions?

A.  With proper encouragement, anyone can learn to produce a competent drawing.   Correct

this can be a conclusion

B. Individuals who draw while holding their pen or pencil tightly will not be able to draw skillfully.  Incorrect

it can inferred from argument that those people can draw better when encouraged

C. Learning to draw is mostly a matter of having the correct mindset. Incorrect

encouragement can change drawing ability

D. Nearly everyone draws better when one is not concerned with what others think.  Incorrect

not related with argument

E. Individuals who lack confidence in their drawing skills usually produce better work when not trying too hard to replicate a figure.  Incorrect

they draw better when encouraged

Shikhar22 · Answer

I might be wrong. But don’t you think in option A, mentions ‘anyone can learn’. Which is a very very wide scope for a conclusion. As, the conclusion should only be about people who think who can’t draw!?

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AkashM · Answer

Eliminate A because "the results are usually better by the individual’s own reckoning." does not mean it is a competent drawing.

Eliminate B because the passage does not exclude the possibility of people who draws skillfully with a tight grip.

Eliminate C because as important is having the right mindset, there might be other factors that are equally important.

Eliminate D because the passage does not mention about the pressure created from expectations.

E remains and is the correct answer. Option E reiterates this part from the passage "to use a more flowing line, and to not get bogged down with exact proportions and shapes".

Gknight5603 · Answer

IMO C

acc. to argument ....if mindset is OK then they will be able to draw successfully..so this choice will strengthen the argument

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chaitnya10 · Answer

IMO E
A and C : Text not about learning
B: Trap
D: Other think is out of scope

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

Official Explanation:

Art instructor: People who believe that they lack the ability to draw well are often hampered by their own mindset. For example, many of these individuals, when attempting to draw a reasonably accurate picture of an object, will approach the task with painstaking care and a tight grip on their pen or pencil. When encouraged to relax, to use a more flowing line, and to not get bogged down with exact proportions and shapes, which can always be modified later, the results are usually better by the individual’s own reckoning.
 
 The art instructor statements, if true, most strongly support which of the following conclusions? 
 
 A. With proper encouragement, anyone can learn to produce a competent drawing.
B. Individuals who draw while holding their pen or pencil tightly will not be able to draw skillfully.
C. Learning to draw is mostly a matter of having the correct mindset.
D. Nearly everyone draws better when one is not concerned with what others think.  
 E. Individuals who lack confidence in their drawing skills usually produce better work when not trying too hard to replicate a figure.

Question Type:   Inference
  Boil It Down:   People who think they’re bad at drawing tend to grip their pen/pencil too tightly and try too hard to “get it right the first time.” If they are taught to loosen their grip on the pen/pencil and not be so stressed out about the finished product, they tend to draw better. 
  Goal:    Based on the information given, which of these options would be the best conclusion to this passage?

Analysis:

General comments about most strongly supported/inference questions:  
Unlike weakener, strengthener, and assumption type questions, most strongly supported/inference questions do not necessarily require identifying the argument structure nor do they require analyzing the argument. In fact, inference style questions may not have a conclusion. To deal with these question types, we should work with the answer choices first, seeking justification for each answer choice in the stimulus/passage. Using the process of elimination is a good strategy for this question type. Depending on the strength of inference being required, be sure to find the answer choice contained or implied in stimulus/passage. Eliminate answer choices that go beyond information contained in the passage.
 
A good rule of thumb on these types of questions is that “thou shalt not go beyond what is written.”
 
Incorrect answer choices often go from specific to more general, going beyond what is stated in the passage. Correct answer choices go from general to specific or specific to specific, thereby staying within the information provided in the stimulus.
 
Sometimes, an effective strategy for dealing with “most strongly support” questions is to try to falsify the answer choice. If you can successfully show how the answer choice may be false (in a non-convoluted way) then eliminate that answer choice. The one that cannot be easily falsified will be the correct answer

A. With proper encouragement, anyone can learn to produce a competent drawing.
 Incorrect. The stimulus is dealing with people who believe that they lack the ability to draw well, whereas this answer choice addresses all people learning to draw. Therefore, answer choice A goes beyond the information provided in the passage. 
 
B. Individuals who draw while holding their pen or pencil tightly will not be able to draw skillfully.
 Incorrect. The stimulus is dealing with people who believe that they lack the ability to draw well, whereas this answer choice addresses all people who hold their writing utensil tightly. Therefore, answer choice B goes beyond the information provided in the passage. 
 
C. Learning to draw is mostly a matter of having the correct mindset.
 Incorrect. Although the passage does deal with the need for the subjects of the stimulus to have the right mindset, this answer choice addresses all people learning to draw. This goes beyond the stimulus which addressed people who believe they lack the ability to draw well. Therefore, answer choice C goes beyond the information provided in the passage. 
 
D. Nearly everyone draws better when one is not concerned with what others think. 
 Incorrect. The stimulus is dealing with people who believe that they lack the ability to draw well, whereas this answer choice addresses nearly all people who draw. Therefore, answer choice D goes beyond the information provided in the passage. 
 
E. Individuals who lack confidence in their drawing skills usually produce better work when not trying too hard to replicate a figure.
 Correct. This answer choice basically restates the last sentence of the stimulus: “When encouraged to relax…the results are usually better by the individual’s own reckoning.”

Key Takeaway: 
For inference and most strongly supported question types, follow the “thou shalt not go beyond what is written rule. Look for answer choices that are restatements from the stimulus or are logical inferences that can be made from statements in the passage. Note how all the wrong answer choices made statements about a group that was larger than the narrow group in the stimulus.

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EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

Great work chaitnya10 , AkashM , and Shikhar22 ! You all earned kudos for nailing this one!

We noticed a few new people around here today - welcome! We post every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday - and we're looking forward to seeing how you tackle the next question, which is already up now! Have a great weekend!

RiyaJ0032 · Answer

E is also a suspect option here, and I do not think it's any better than C

The stem says that of those who believed they lack the ability to draw, some of them drew well when they were asked to let their guard down

this option generalizes for all people

and therefore this option goes beyond what is given in the stem which bases it's claim on only a select few people out of the group of people not able to draw

Art instructor: People who believe that they lack the ability to draw

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GMAT Critical Reasoning (CR) Questions

Art instructor: People who believe that they lack the ability to draw

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