CAVEAT: Once again, this problem fails to obey ETS conventions. I don't see a citation of the source, but, if the source is named, please regard further material from the same source with appropriate suspicion.
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4. According to the passage, which of the following is true about Bastianini?
When ETS uses the phrase "According to the passage", the correct answer
restates an idea that's EXPLICITLY IN the text, typically rephrasing the idea into different words but preserving the original idea.
This convention is not obeyed here. This problem turns out to be about the negative space of a statement (see discussion of answers below)—which aligns more with ETS prompts that contain "imply", "infer", or "suggest"—but still takes some liberties even if we allow that.
In any case... We want something that's in the text of the
second paragraph somewhere, as that's the paragraph that discusses Bastianni.
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A) Some of Bastianini’s forgeries are of such good quality that they continue to cause confusion as to their true origins and era today.
This is not supported. The second paragraph is quite precise in summarizing exactly what Bastianni's original intent and source material were; there is nothing to suggest that there might still be any uncertainty about anything that underlay Bastianni's work.
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B) As a result of superior education, critics today would not mistakenly attribute Bastianini’s work to the Renaissance-era masters.
Misrepresentation of info from the passage.
According to the text, our awareness of the circumstances and intent of Bastianni's work has improved not as a result of "superior education", but, rather, as a result of "the passage of time and the dissipation of contemporaneous opinions about what Renaissance Art should reflect".
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C) Bastianini was aware that his sculptures were being passed off as the work of Renaissance-era masters.
Wrong-way answer.
The whole purpose of using Bastianni as an example is that he acquired his reputation as a forger "unwittingly"—i.e., exactly the opposite of being consciously aware of any such insinuation.
D) Bastianini’s work reveals prejudices regarding what he and his peers believed art from the Renaissance era should demonstrate.
The author says that the true nature and circumstances of Bastianni's work are easier to ascertain correctly on the heels of "the dissipation of contemporaneous opinions about what Renaissance Art should reflect".
This
vaguely implies that "contemporaneous opinions about what Renaissance Art should reflect" guided Bastianni's work and also created confusion as to whether Bastianni had the intent to forge or fake.
This must be the
correct answer here, by elimination—because the other four choices are distinctly WRONG—but the logic here is not nearly rigorous enough for the official test.
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E) Bastianini should be classified as an artist rather than a forger.
"Rather than" misrepresents the text. The author clearly makes the point that Bastianni and others like him can, and should, be classified as
BOTH 'forgers'
AND legitimate artists. (See question 3.)