Reading Comprehension

In 1993, artists Vitaly Komar and Alexander Melamid oversaw an international poll of artistic preferences. In every nation surveyed, the overwhelmingly favored subjects for painting were lush landscape vistas with trees, hills, water, human figures, and animals. Oddly, this held even for nations without natural terrain or cultural traditions conducive to such paintings. Melamid concluded that the modernist dream of creating universal art through geometric abstraction had been misguided-the artistic subject with truly universal appeal is the landscape.

Art critic Arthur Danto hypothesized that worldwide, calendars depicting landscapes have influenced most people's concepts of art. In other words, aesthetic indoctrination by the global calendar industry could explain the survey results. But since calendars with other imagery are also available, the question of why calendars with landscapes are especially popular remains.

Perhaps the preference for lush landscapes is not a social construct, but rather an evolved human instinct. Our Paleolithic ancestors would have been more likely to survive if they had been attracted to areas with water to drink, vegetation and wildlife to eat, and hills that provided vantage points and hiding places. Thus those who instinctively preferred such landscapes would have had more offspring survive, spreading this aesthetic preference through the human population

RC1:
The main purpose of the passage as a whole is to

A. argue that the artworks with the widest popularity are landscape paintings rather than
modernist abstractions
B. assess whether calendars depicting landscapes have influenced many people's concepts of art
C. explain why among our Paleolithic ancestors those who preferred lush landscapes would
have had more surviving offspring
D. discuss and consider possible explanations for the results of an international poll of
artistic preferences
E. describe and contrast two competing hypotheses regarding the evolution of human aesthetic instincts

RC2:
To suggest the insufficiency of the hypothesis that is mentioned in the second paragraph,
the passage mentions

A. the results of the international poll of artistic preferences
B. the global reach of the calendar industry
C. the modernist dream of creating universal art through geometric abstraction
D. the conception that art is a social construct
E. calendars with imagery other than landscapes

RC3:
The passage most strongly suggests that at least some respondents to the international poll

A. had never seen calendars with lush landscapes
B. had tastes that were favorably influenced by the calendar industry
C. lived in flat, arid, or treeless regions
D. responded that they do not enjoy geometric abstractions
E. preferred paintings of landscapes to photographs of humans

RC4:
Which of the following, if true, could most logically be explained by the hypothesis
proposed in the third paragraph?

A. In general hikers greatly prefer trails through wilderness with variegated terrain,
vegetation, and wildlife to other types of trails.
B. Sales data indicate that calendars depicting landscapes of desert rock formations are
more popular than those depicting geometric abstractions.
C. Polls show that abstract modernist paintings have recently become far less popular, while paintings of lush landscapes have become more popular.
D. There is evidence that in many nations, traditions of landscape painting became
reestablished soon after calendars depicting landscapes were first introduced.
E. Archaeologists discovered Paleolithic cave paintings that depict human figures and
wild animals in a geometrically abstract manner.



RC5:
Which of the following, if true, would provide the most support for the hypothesis discussed
in the second paragraph?

A. Many early calendars produced by the global calendar industry featured imagery reflecting
the tastes of those producing the calendars.
B. Almost all calendars feature imagery chosen specifically to cater to the artistic tastes of people in the nations in which those calendars are sold.
C. Several decades ago, modernist abstractions became highly popular in many nations shortly
after calendars featuring such abstractions became common.
D. In many nations, before calendars depicting landscapes were introduced, portraits were far
less popular than landscapes.
E. Worldwide, few people buy calendars featuring geometric abstractions if calendars with
lush landscapes are available

RC6:
The passage most clearly implies that the cultural traditions mentioned in the first paragraph
(see highlighted text)

A. do not fully determine the aesthetic preferences of most people with those traditions
B. conflict with a dream of creating universal art
C. have been altered by corporate aesthetic indoctrination
D. reflect the instinctive aesthetic preferences that evolved among our Paleolithic ancestors
E. are conducive to creating aesthetically appealing paintings of subjects other than landscapes

please discuss before OAs

1.) D
2.) E
3.) C
5.) C
6.) C

Question 4 seems incomplete and awkward as there is no third paragraph in the passage.

Please share the OA.

sathishkumarjva9888 wrote:1.) D
2.) E
3.) C
5.) C
6.) C

Question 4 seems incomplete and awkward as there is no third paragraph in the passage.

Please share the OA.

Sorry, u may take a short at Q4 now...the had a problem with formatting during posting.
Thanks.

1. D
2. E
3. C
4. E
5. C
6. B

For question 4,
Though para 3 is incomplete, what I could understand is the hypothesis mentions evolution (mainly survival preference of location) of ancestors had influenced the current generation's choice of art.
Hence the best possible answer that supports this hypothesis in my opinion is 'C'.

Waiting for the OA. Thanks!

Regards,
Pritish

Thanks for the post.
IMO Q4.) A

A seem to reflect how human instinct have passed on from the past in impacting hikers preferences.

Nitish, i see that the question does not ask for Support. It says which of the following could be explained by the passage, which is more of an inference question.

OA Please

theses are the OAs:

[spoiler]1D
2E
3C
4A
5C
6A
[/spoiler]

A seem to reflect how human instinct have passed on from the past in impacting hikers preferences.

from where you got the red part

gmatdriller wrote:theses are the OAs:

[spoiler]1D
2E
3C
4A
5C
6A
[/spoiler]

Can you please also post the explanation against each answer? Thanks!

am sorry, i do not have the OEs'