Question: When storing Renaissance oil paintings, museums conform to standards that call for careful control of the surrounding temperature and humidity, with variations confined within narrow margins. Maintaining this environment is very costly, and recent research shows that even old oil paint is unaffected by wide fluctuations in temperature and humidity. Therefore, museums could relax their standards and save money without endangering their Renaissance oil paintings.

Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?

1. Renaissance paintings were created in conditions involving far greater fluctuations in temperature and humidity than those permitted by current standards.
2. Under the current standards that museums use when storing Renaissance oil paintings, those paintings do not deteriorate at all.
3. Museum collections typically do not contain items that are more likely to be vulnerable to fluctuations in temperature and humidity than Renaissance oil paintings.
4. None of the materials in Renaissance oil paintings other than the paint are vulnerable enough to relatively wide fluctuations in temperature and humidity to cause damage to the paintings.
5. Most Renaissance oil paintings are stored in museums located in regions near the regions where the paintings were created.

Correct Answer: D
Explanation: The argument is that museums could relax their standards and save money without endangering the oil paintings.

This is based on the facts of a recent study showing that even old oil paint is unaffected by wide fluctuations in temp and humidity.
The author talks of only paint used in Renaissance oil paintings not getting spoilt and then comes to his conclusion. Paintings do constitute various other components like the material on which it is made, canvas wood etc. But the author does not talk about all these so he must have assumed that 'None of the materials in Renaissance oil paintings. Other than the paint, they are vulnerable enough to relatively wide fluctuations in temperature and humidity to cause damage to the paintings.' All the material in renaissance oil paintings other than the paint are vulnerable enough to relatively wide fluctuations in temperature and humidity to cause damage to the paintings.
We are asked to find a statement that must be true in order for the argument to be true. The argument is that since paint on the paintings is unaffected by changes in temperature & humidity the museum should relax their standards & save money. Only D touches both points.

Option D
None of the materials in Renaissance oil paintings other than the paint are vulnerable enough to relatively wide fluctuations in temperature and humidity to cause damage to the paintings.- Correct. It is correct since it is obvious that the first section is true. However, the second half of the D response choice refers to the first portion's position, not the position that the author had in mind. The argument makes reference to "old paint" as being durable, implying that the canvas on which it was painted and maybe even the frame are similarly robust. Since the paintings would not be able to stand if the other pieces were fragile.

Let’s see the other available options.

Option A
Renaissance paintings were created in conditions involving far greater fluctuations in temperature and humidity than those permitted by current standards.- Incorrect. It claims that more variations were used in the "were created" of Renaissance artworks. The circumstances that existed at the moment of creation, however, are unrelated to the argument. the belief that because the paintings were created in such harsh conditions, they will do so again.

Option B
Under the current standards that museums use when storing Renaissance oil paintings, those paintings do not deteriorate at all.- Incorrect. This supports the claim but in no way amounts to an assumption. Despite being true in and of itself, the assumption does not apply to the assumption of the argument. It wouldn't be the ideal response.

Option C
Museum collections typically do not contain items that are more likely to be vulnerable to fluctuations in temperature and humidity than Renaissance oil paintings.- Incorrect.Only oil paintings from the Renaissance are at issue. The argument's breadth is unaffected by other museum exhibits.

Option E
Most Renaissance oil paintings are stored in museums located in regions near the regions where the paintings were created.- Incorrect. Not a response to the argument. It is obviously immaterial where the artworks were made and preserved in this case.

“When storing Renaissance oil paintings, museums conform to standards”- is a GMAT critical reasoning topic. This GMAT critical comes with five options and candidates need to choose the one which is correct. GMAT critical reasoning tests the logical and analytical skills of the candidates. To answer the question, a candidate can either find a piece of evidence that would weaken the argument or have logical flaws in the argument. Candidates get 65 minutes to answer 36 MCQ questions in the critical reasoning section of the GMAT.

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