Q7 - Critic: The perennial image of the "city on a hill"

[mshinners]

Question Type:
Principle Support (Strengthen/Sufficient)

Stimulus Breakdown:
The concert hall is far from the city center, so it's not a successful civic building.
The museum is downtown and promotes social cohesion/makes the city more alive, so it is a successful civic building.

Answer Anticipation:
Choices, choices! The answer will do at least one of the following:
1) Justify a building far from the city center as unsuccessful as a civic building
2) Justify a downtown building as being successful
3) Justify a building that promotes social cohesion/makes the city more alive as successful
Each of these connects a fact about one of the buildings with the judgment made about it.

Correct answer:
(E)

Answer choice analysis:
(A) Out of scope. The author doesn't feel elevation is enough to result in success. This answer combines what we know about the concert hall with what we know about the museum, but that's not how this argument works.

(B) Out of scope. The argument is about whether buildings are successful as civic buildings, not whether a town needs these buildings to have social cohesion.

(C) Opposite. The counterpoint against which the Critic is arguing connects spectacular purpose with spectacular site. The author thinks the current building that fits this description is a failure.

(D) Out of scope. Design?

(E) Bingo. Follows prediction #3. This answer connects success (something that fulfills its purpose) to what we know about the art museum. Since the author believes that building is a success, this answer connects the ideas needed for the argument.

Takeaway/Pattern:
Some Principle Strengthen questions have multiple possible answers based on multiple judgments in the stimulus. Be sure to know them ahead of time so you don't miss the correct answer!

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