The Parthenon has long been regarded as one of the great architectural

Question

The Parthenon has long been regarded as one of the great architectural and artistic products of the High Classical Period. Yet, scholars have struggled to reach a consensus interpretation for the meaning of the Parthenon frieze. The study of this particular sculptural element of the Parthenon, a continuous band of sculpture that ran round the top of the building’s temple-chamber, has proven quite difficult.

Today only 423 feet of the original 524 survive, and of those, 247 feet are housed in the British Museum in London. Another large section is now in the Acropolis Museum in Athens, and still other pieces reside in exhibits throughout Europe, making it a difficult task to discuss, let alone experience the unified whole the designers wished the audience to witness—a key element in deciphering any work of art.

Denied the opportunity to study the frieze as it existed in antiquity, scholars are faced with the burden of reconstructing the visual experience of the monument before they can even begin interpreting it. To do so, an inventory is taken of characters and figure-types represented on the frieze and their arrangement. Then this inventory is compared to historical precedents and placed in its contemporary context in the hopes of using prior examples to decipher its meaning. Considering the various fragments of the Parthenon frieze as a whole and comparing it to other Greek artworks, two aspects of the arrangement immediately strike the  informed  viewer.

First, it is clear that the frieze is meant to be thought of as a continuous whole. This is particularly interesting because it is completely unprecedented in Greek art.Continuous friezes on 20 the faces of Greek temples generally depicted single subjects, but if continued over all four sides of a building, the four stretches of the frieze would generally be thematically separate.

The second unique aspect of the Parthenon frieze has to do with the fundamental nature of Greek art: namely that all works of art prior to the Parthenon frieze depicted only scenes from myth and legend. Yet, in this relief, for the first time in the history of Greek art, we find mortals, leading some scholars to the conclusion that what is depicted is a specific event that actually took place at a particular time and place.    1 
 1. In the context in which it appears, the word “informed” ( Highlighted ) most nearly means

(A) assiduous
(B) artistic
(C) unique
(D) erudite
(E) scientific

2 
 2. Which of the following would be the best title for the above passage?

(A) The Parthenon Frieze: An Insoluble Sculptural Mystery
(B) The Parthenon Frieze and Methods of Artistic Interpretation
(C) The Parthenon Frieze: Idiosyncratic Stonework
(D) Mortals in Greek Art
(E) The Parthenon Frieze: Continuity of Character

3 
 3. According to the passage, each of the following is true about the Parthenon EXCEPT:

(A) It was constructed in the High Classical Period.
(B) It has been seen as a great work of art.
(C) It was featured on a temple-chamber.
(D) It is not known how it looked at the time of its construction.
(E) It contained a one-of-a-kind sculptural element.

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Official Explanation

1. In the context in which it appears, the word “informed” ( Highlighted ) most nearly means

Explanation

Choice (A)  is wrong because  “assiduous”  means diligent, which is irrelevant here.

Choice (B)  is wrong because the people studying art do not have to be  “artistic.”

Choice (C)  is a trap built on the uniqueness of the Parthenon, but  “informed”  is not describing the Parthenon.

Choice (D)  is correct because  “erudite”  means knowledgeable, and knowledge would allow someone viewing the frieze to recognize its unique qualities.

Choice (E)  is wrong because this is a question of knowledge, not applying technical, or  “scientific,”  skills.

Answer: D

2. Which of the following would be the best title for the above passage?

Explanation

Choice (A)  is wrong because many of its characteristics have in fact been worked out.

Choice (B)  is wrong because the passage is not primarily about artistic interpretation.

Choice (C)  is correct because  “idiosyncratic”  is a synonym for unique, and the frieze is said to be unique in two ways.

Choice (D)  is incorrect because only one paragraph discusses the existence of mortals in the frieze and because this title is much too broad.

Choice (E)  is a trap: all sides of the frieze are continuous, not the individual characters.

Answer: C

Hope it helps

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Official Explanation

3. According to the passage, each of the following is true about the Parthenon EXCEPT:

Explanation

Choice (A)  is incorrect because the first sentence indicates that the Parthenon was constructed in the  “High Classical Period.”

Choice (B)  is incorrect because the same sentence says that the Parthenon was  “regarded as a great architectural and artistic product.”

Choice (C)  is incorrect because the frieze is said to have come from the  “temple-chamber”  of the Parthenon.

Choice (D)  is correct because the passage says only that it is  “difficult to study”  the frieze because not all of it survives  “today”  and the surviving parts are in different locations. This doesn’t necessarily mean that today’s scholars don’t know what the missing portions looked like at the time of construction (perhaps drawings of the Parthenon survive, for example).

Choice (E)  is incorrect because the frieze is described as  “unique”  and defined as a  “structural element”  of the Parthenon.

Answer: D

Hope it helps

Adityasekar · Answer

Are we expected to know the meaning of these words ?

1. Erudite
2. Assiduous

AndrewN · Answer

Hello,  Adityasekar . If this were GRE® practice, I would say for sure, you would need to know such words. For GMAT™ practice, though, just learn what you can from the question, add a word or two to your vocabulary, and practice honing your  reading  skills. Although words such as  erudite  or  assiduous  might appear in a GMAT™ passage, the context would suggest their meaning, and I cannot think of an example of an official question in which an upper-level word is provided in isolation like this among the answer choices. To reiterate, that does not make the question a worthless exercise--maybe if you came across a GMAT™ passage with the word  assiduous  in it, you would already know the meaning--but the question is one that is less indicative of what you can expect to see on this particular test.

- Andrew

Hoozan · Answer

SajjadAhmad 
 
Q.1 Is clearly a question testing your vocabulary. Do such questions appear on the GMAT? Because as far as I know, GMAT RCs are more to do with comprehension that vocabulary. Even if "big words" are used in the passage we can infer its meaning through the sentences and idea of the passage. But here we are given "unfamiliar" words in the answer option - clearly no way to infer the meaning

Sajjad1994 · Answer

You are right, this is a GRE passage basically and GMAT doesn't ask for the vocabulary. One can skip question like this for the purpose of the GMAT.

Axwe7 · Answer

Hello, I chose option C, only because the question asks which is true about the "Parthenon" and not the "Parthenon frieze". The Parthenon itself isn't in a temple-chamber, only the 'frieze' aspect of it is. This difference is important because it changes the meaning of the question.

guddo · Answer

Yes, I think, your objection is valid.

As written , choice C is sloppy. The passage says that the frieze “ran round the top of the building’s temple-chamber.” That describes the frieze, not the Parthenon itself. So if “it” in C refers to the Parthenon, then C is not strictly correct.

What the test writer probably meant was:
the Parthenon featured a sculptural element on or around the temple-chamber.

But that is not what C literally says. So your point is right: this question is poorly worded, and C is at least ambiguous.

The Parthenon has long been regarded as one of the great architectural

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GMAT Reading Comprehension (RC) Questions

The Parthenon has long been regarded as one of the great architectural

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