Q3

[vincent.m]

Hey guys,

I chose C, but now I realize that it is wrong because Wagner is really saying, it's okay to appreciate these outdated works, but in practice an architect must use the technology that is current. B is directly contradicted by lines 58-64, where the author basically says that Otto Wagner had an attachment the forms of the Italian Renaissance and the Austrian Baroque, but he knew that, based on modern technology and social conditions, there was no bringing them back. Please let me know if this assessment is correct? Also is the support for E lines 15-20? Thank you!

[christine.defenbaugh]

Excellent thought process, vincent.m!

Often we are asked, in RC, to assess which answer the author would be MOST likely to agree with. Here, instead, we are asked which answer the author would be LEAST likely to agree with.

Here, we only need clear textual support that the author would be unlikely to agree with the correct answer, but any citations that show the author would actually agree with a correct answer are awesome too!

You are absolutely spot on that lines 58-64 clearly contradict (B) - Wagner admits to emotional attachment to the great works! In addition, the sentence before that helps as well: lines 56-58, "the true inspiration" came from those older forms.

Let's take a quick spin through the incorrect answers:

(A) Lines 48-50: Wagner advised against "mechanical imitation of historical models."
(C) Paragraph clearly indicates Wagner's belief that architects should have knowledge of engineering. While there is no direct indication that Wagner thought every architect should have knowledge of the architecture of the past, it seems reasonable that he would, and nothing in the passage comes anywhere close to refuting it!
(D) Wagner's support for using current technological bases: line 14 "modern technologies", line 18 "technological revolutions", line 25 "technical...achievements". Rejecting outdated technological frameworks is made explicit in line 60: there's no way back to the "technological conditions that produced the work of Michelangelo."
(E) Once again, you've nailed it! Line 17 aligns the modern political revolutions with the technological ones - and the modern architect should reflect both!

Excellent work on the analysis of this question in review!