This page is part of my unofficial solutions manual to the GRE Paper Practice Book (2e), a free resource available on the ETS website. They publish the questions; I explain the answers. If you haven’t worked through the Practice Book, give Section 3 a shot before reading this!

3.23: Renaissance Prints, pt. 1

Here we have an example of another common Reading Comprehension format. I call this one the “triple true/false” because it presents three answer choices, each of which has to be evaluated separately. Usually, as in this case, the goal is to determine whether each statement is supported by the passage.

The key here is to distinguish between the “orthodox position” and the other positions described in the passage. The “orthodox position” is explained in ll. 4-8. Later on, we learn about a different position — the one taken by art historians Scribner and Moxey. We know that their work is unorthodox for two reasons: it’s contrasted with the orthodox position (l. 9), and the author calls it “pioneering” (also l. 9), which means “novel” or “innovative.”

Now let’s look at the answers. We’re in luck: (A) quotes directly from l. 4, which is part of the description of the “orthodox” view. Similarly, answer (C) just restates ll. 5-7, which also belong to the orthodox position. So both of these answer choices are correct.

What about (B), though? It too quotes from the text (ll. 17-18), but if we read through those last lines carefully, we see that (B) is the opinion of Scribner — the “pioneering” or unorthodox researcher — rather than the orthodox view. This is a devious little move on the GRE’s part, and we’ll see it again in future questions. To avoid falling for it, remember: if a passage introduces multiple viewpoints, we need to be clear about who said what.