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Difficulty: EasyCross-Text Connections: Relational Synthesis

Text 1
For decades, art historians maintained that the famous Roman sculptor Marcus Aurelius exclusively used local Italian marble for his creations. Scholars pointed to the chemical composition of his most celebrated imperial busts, which consistently matched stone from quarries in Carrara, Italy. They concluded that ancient workshops rarely relied on imported materials due to the immense difficulties and high costs of transporting heavy stone over long distances.

Text 2
Geologist Elena Vance recently analyzed several lesser-known sculptures attributed to Marcus Aurelius that are currently housed in private European collections. Vance discovered that these specific sculptures were actually carved from marble quarried in Greece. This discovery suggests that Aurelius's workshop was actively connected to a vast Mediterranean trade network, meaning that the workshop did not restrict its material selection solely to local Italian quarries.

Based on the texts, how would Vance (Text 2) most likely respond to the conclusion of the art historians in Text 1?

  1. A
    By agreeing that Roman workshops rarely imported stone and arguing that Greek marble was only used for non-imperial sculptures.
  2. B
    By suggesting that Marcus Aurelius did not actually carve the Greek marble sculptures himself but left them to his assistants.
  3. By pointing out that some sculptures attributed to Marcus Aurelius were made of marble from Greece, demonstrating that his workshop did use imported materials.Answer
  4. D
    By asserting that the chemical analysis of the Carrara marble in the imperial busts was inaccurate.

Answer

By pointing out that some sculptures attributed to Marcus Aurelius were made of marble from Greece, demonstrating that his workshop did use imported materials.
The correct answer shows that Vance would point out the Greek marble sculptures as evidence that the workshop did use imported materials. Text 1 claims that the workshop exclusively used local Italian marble because transporting stone was too difficult and costly. Text 2 states that Vance found sculptures attributed to Marcus Aurelius that were carved from Greek marble. This directly contradicts the idea that the workshop relied only on local materials, showing that Vance would challenge the historians' conclusion.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze Text 1 to determine the main conclusion of the art historians.
The historians conclude that Marcus Aurelius exclusively used local Italian marble because transporting stone was too difficult and expensive.
Understanding the claim in Text 1 is necessary to determine how the author of Text 2 would respond to it.
2
Analyze Text 2 to identify Elena Vance's findings and their implications.
Vance found that some sculptures attributed to Marcus Aurelius were made of Greek marble, suggesting the workshop used imported stone.
Understanding Vance's findings provides the base evidence for her perspective on the topic.
3
Synthesize the relationship between the two texts to find how Vance would respond.
Since Vance has evidence of Greek marble usage, she would point to these sculptures to show that the historians' claim of exclusive local marble use is incorrect.
This step directly answers the prompt's question about Vance's response.

Key Concept

Cross-Text Connections: Relational Synthesis
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Cross-Text Connections: Relational Synthesis

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