Through the last half century, the techniques used by certain

Question

Through the last half century, the techniques used
by certain historians of African art for judging the
precise tribal origins of African sculptures on the
basis of style have been greatly refined. However, as
  (5)   one recent critic of the historians’ classificatory
assumptions has put it, the idea that the distribution
of a particular style is necessarily limited to the area
populated by one tribe may be “a dreadful
oversimplification . . . a decided falsification of the
  (10)   very life of art in Africa.”

Objects and styles have often been diffused
through trade, most notably by workshops of artists
who sell their work over a large geographical area.
Styles cannot be narrowly defined as belonging
  (15)   uniquely to a particular area; rather, there are
important “centers of style” throughout Africa where
families, clans, and workshops produce sculpture and
other art that is dispersed over a large, multitribal
geographical area. Thus, a family of artists belonging
  (20)   to a single ethnic group may produce sculpture on
commission for several neighboring tribes. While this
practice contributes to a marked uniformity of styles
across a large area, the commissioned works must
nevertheless be done to some extent in the style of
  (25)   the tribe commissioning the work. This leads to much
confusion on the part of those art historians who
attempt to assign particular objects to individual
groups on the basis of style.

One such center of style is located in the village
  (30)   of Ouri, in central Burkina Faso, where members of
the Konaté family continue a long tradition of
sculpture production not only for five major
neighboring ethnic groups, but in recent times also
for the tourist trade in Ouagadougou. The Konaté
  (35)   sculptors are able to distinguish the characteristics of
the five styles in which they carve, and will point to
the foliate patterns that radiate from the eyes of a
Nuna ask, or the diamond-shaped mouth of many
Ko masks, as characteristics of a particular tribal style
  (40)   that must be included to satisfy their clients.
Nevertheless, their work is consistent in its
proportions, composition, color, and technique. In
fact, although the Konaté sculptors can identify the
styles they carve, the characteristic patterns are so
  (45)   subtly different that few people outside of the area
can distinguish Nuna masks from Ko masks.

Perhaps historians of African art should ask if
objects in similar styles were produced in centers of
style, where artists belonging to one ethnic group
  (50)   produced art for all of their neighbors. Perhaps it is
even more important to cease attempting to break
down large regional styles into finer and finer tribal
styles and substyles, and to recognize that artists in
Africa often do not produce work only in their own
  (55)   narrowly defined ethnic contexts. As the case of the
Konaté sculptors makes clear, one cannot readily tell
which group produced an object by analyzing fine
style characteristics.    1 
 1. Which one of the following titles most completely and accurately describes the contents of the passage?

(A)  African Centers of Style: Their Implications for Art Historians’ Classifications of African Art 
(B)  African Art Redefined: The Impact of the Commercialization of Sculpture and the Tourist Demand on Style 
(C)  Characteristics of African Sculpture: Proportion, Composition, Color, and Technique 
(D)  Style Versus Technique: The Case Against Historians of African Art 
(E)  Konaté Sculptors: Pioneers of the African Art Trade

2 
 2. Based on the passage, the art historians mentioned in line 2 would be most likely to agree with which one of the following statements?

(A) Understanding the nature of centers of style is a key to better classification of African art.
(B) Similarities among African masks can be due to standard techniques used in carving the eyes and mouths of the masks.
(C) Some subtly distinguished substyles should not be distinguished from large regional styles.
(D) It is a fairly recent practice for African mask sculptors to produce masks for tribes of which they are not members.
(E) The tribal origin of African sculptures is important to their classification.

3 
 3. According to the passage, which one of the following is a feature that Konaté sculptors can identify as a requirement of a particular tribal style?

(A) horizontal incisions
(B) eye position
(C) top attachments
(D) bottom decorations
(E) mouth shape

4 
 4. The author’s primary purpose in the passage is to

(A) classify a set of artistic styles according to a newly proposed set of principles
(B) provide evidence that the elements of a particular group of artistic works have been misclassified
(C) explain the principles used by a group of historians to classify certain kinds of artistic works
(D) reveal the underlying assumptions of a traditional approach to the classification of certain kinds of artistic works
(E) argue that a particular approach to classifying certain kinds of artistic works is mistaken

5 
 5. The passage provides the most support for which one of the following inferences?

(A) Some of the sculptures that the Konaté family produces are practically indistinguishable from those produced by certain other sculptors far from Burkina Faso.
(B) The carving styles used by some members of the Konaté family are distinctly different from those used by other members.
(C) Other families of sculptors in Burkina Faso collaborate with the Konaté family in producing masks.
(D) The Konaté family produces masks for some African ethnic groups other than the Nuna and Ko groups.
(E) The village of Ouri where the Konaté family produces sculptures is the oldest center of style in Burkina Faso.

6 
 6. Which one of the following does the author attribute to the Konaté sculptors?

(A) use of nontraditional materials in sculptures 
(B) production of sculptures in several distinct styles that are nevertheless very similar to one another
(C) stylistic innovations that have influenced the work of other sculptors in a large geographical area
(D) adoption of a carving style that was previously used only by members of a different tribe
(E) introduction of the practice of producing sculptures for neighboring groups

7 
 7. Which one of the following most accurately expresses what the author means by “centers of style” (line 16)?

(A) geographical areas in which masks and similar sculptures are for the most part interchangeable among a number of closely connected tribes who use them
(B) locations in which works of art are produced by sculptors using a particular style who then instruct other artists throughout large surrounding geographical areas
(C) locations in which stylistically consistent but subtly varied works of art are produced and distributed to ethnically varied surrounding areas
(D) large geographical areas throughout which the various tribes produce works of art that differ subtly along ethnic lines but are so similar that they are very difficult for outside observers to distinguish from one another
(E) locations in which sculptures and similar works of art are traditionally produced by a diverse community of artists who migrate in from various tribes of surrounding areas

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Explanation

1. Which one of the following titles most completely and accurately describes the contents of the passage?

Explanation

We can form a strong pre-phrase of the answer to this question by simply considering the scope of the passage. The correct title must consider centers of style, and it must mention their implications for the classification of African art. As it turns out, only  (A)  mentions even the first of these crucial elements, so it must be the correct answer.

(B) Line 34  mentions  “the tourist trade”  in passing, but this brief note hardly merits mention in the title of the passage.

(C) “Proportion, composition, color, and technique”  are the consistent characteristics of Konaté sculpture from  line 42 , making this choice too focused on the details.

(D)  is a bit too extreme: the passage really isn’t against historians of African art, it merely suggests that they’ve failed to consider an important fact about African art.

(E)  While the Konaté are the only art traders mentioned in the passage, they are merely used as an example of a center of style, and are not really the focus of the passage itself.

Answer: A

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Explanation

2. Based on the passage, the art historians mentioned in line 2 would be most likely to agree with which one of the following statements?

Difficulty Level:   700

Explanation

Even though the art historians don’t get to present their side of things, they are an important part of the passage. This question asks us to infer their viewpoint, or at least a viewpoint they would agree with, and the line reference in the question stem suggests that we’ll find it at the beginning of the passage. Skimming the first few lines for context, we can find a reference to these historians refining the techniques that they use in  “judging the precise tribal origins of African sculptures (2–3).”  If they’ve spent the last half century working to refine those techniques, then surely the historians believe that there is some value in the information gained from them—so  (E) , which stresses the importance of that information, must be true, and is correct.

(A)  is a classic example of a 180. It gives us the author’s viewpoint, not the art historians’.

(B)  The techniques for carving the eyes and mouths of masks are mentioned in  lines 37–39  as features used by the Konaté to distinguish tribal styles. These techniques are not  “standard” : they are crafted to suit each tribe’s specifications. Furthermore, we don’t have any indication of the art historians’ views regarding techniques.

(C)  is another 180; the author argues that substyles should not be distinguished from the regional styles created by centers of style, but the art historians are described as  “attempting to break down large regional styles into finer and finer tribal styles and substyles (51–53).”

(D)  The only example of mask sculptors producing masks for other tribes comes from the Konaté, but the passage states that they do so as part of  “a long tradition” (31).  It might be possible that the art historians agree with  (D) , but in doing so they would contradict the passage, so we can’t say that  (D)  must be true.

Answer: E

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Explanation

4. The author’s primary purpose in the passage is to

Difficulty Level:   500

Explanation

The author of this passage has a particularly strong point of view—the art historians’ assumption is wrong, and they should rethink it. We’ll look through the answer choices for verbs that might match the strength of this point of view; only  “argue,”  in  (E) , even comes close. A quick skim of the remainder of the choice shows that it matches perfectly with the scope of the passage—the author does indeed craft the passage around the idea that the  “particular approach to classifying”  African art used by the art historians is incorrect.

(A)  There is neither a classification nor a  “newly proposed set of principles”  in the passage.

(B)  might be correct for the next passage that this author writes, but it goes a step further than the passage at hand. This passage doesn’t argue that any particular group of artwork has been misclassified, only that the classification methods of the past and present do not take into account an important aspect of African art.

(C)  The passage does not explain the principles used by the art historians to classify work—instead, it focuses on an assumption underlying those principles.

(D)  is tempting, but too weak. The author doesn’t just reveal the underlying assumptions of the traditional approach, he provides evidence that they are not always correct.

Answer: E

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Explanation

7. Which one of the following most accurately expresses what the author means by “centers of style” (line 16)?

Difficulty Level:   700

Explanation

“Centers of style”  is introduced in  line 16 , but it is used throughout the remainder of the passage, so the answer to this question will most likely take several different references into account. Some research into the context turns up a few clues. Centers of style are defined early on as groups that  “produce sculpture and other art that is dispersed over a large, multitribal geographical area (17–19),”  but this isn’t all the information we have about centers of style. The Konaté are once again central to finding the correct answer, as an in-depth example of a center of style. A description of the Konaté will provide us with another element to search for: while their sculptures have five distinct tribal styles, it is nevertheless  “consistent in its proportions, composition, color, and technique (41–42). ” These two ideas combine in  (C).

(A)  While the art created in centers of style may be distributed over a wide area, the example of the Konaté suggests that the  “characteristics of a particular tribal style (39)”  included in each mask make them far from interchangeable.

(B)  Artists from centers of style produce art for the neighboring tribes, but nothing in the passage suggests that they encourage competition by instructing other artists how to do so.

(D)  sounds very close to the description of the Konaté from paragraph 3, but look closely: the  “various tribes”  within the geographical area are consumers of very similar art, not producers of it.

(E)  A  “diverse community of artists”  doesn’t sound like our example of a center of style, which is a single family.

Answer: C

Through the last half century, the techniques used by certain

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards

GMAT Reading Comprehension (RC) Questions

Through the last half century, the techniques used by certain

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards