For Some Years Before the Outbreak of World War I GMAT Reading Comprehension

Reading Passage Question

For some years before the outbreak of World War I, a number of painters in different European countries developed works of art that some have described as prophetic: paintings that by challenging (5) viewers’ habitual ways of perceiving the world of the present are thus said to anticipate a future world that would be very different. The artistic styles that they brought into being varied widely, but all these styles had in common a very important break with traditions

(10) of representational art that stretched back to the Renaissance.

So fundamental is this break with tradition that it is not surprising to discover that these artist—among them Picasso and Braque in France, Kandinsky in (15) Germany, and Malevich in Russia—are often credited with having anticipated not just subsequent developments in the arts, but also the political and social disruptions and upheavals of the modern world that came into being during and after the war. One art (20) critic even goes so far as to claim that it is the very

prophetic power of these artworks, and not their break with traditional artistic techniques, that constitutes their chief interest and value.

No one will deny that an artist may, just as much as (25) a writer or a politician, speculate about the future and then try to express a vision of that future through making use of a particular style or choice of imagery; speculation about the possibility of war in Europe was certainly widespread during the early years of the (30) twentieth century. But the forward-looking quality attributed to these artists should instead be credited to their exceptional aesthetic innovations rather than to

any power to make clever guesses about political or social trends. For example, the clear impression we get (35) of Picasso and Braque, the joint founders of cubism, from their contemporaries as well as from later statements made by the artists themselves, is that they

were primarily concerned with problems of representation and form and with efforts to create a far (40) more “real” reality than the one that was accessible only to the eye. The reformation of society was of no interest to them as artists.

It is also important to remember that not all decisive changes in art are quickly followed by

(45) dramatic events in the world outside art. The case of Delacroix, the nineteenth-century French painter, is revealing. His stylistic innovations startled his contemporaries—and still retain that power over modern viewers—but most art historians have decided (50) that Delacroix adjusted himself to new social conditions that were already coming into being as a result of political upheavals that had occurred in 1830, as opposed to other artists who supposedly told of

changes still to come.

“For some years before the outbreak of World War I”- is a GMAT reading comprehension passage with answers. Candidates need a strong knowledge of English GMAT reading comprehension.

This GMAT Reading Comprehension consists of 6 comprehension questions. The GMAT Reading Comprehension questions are designed for the purpose of testing candidates’ abilities in understanding, analyzing, and applying information or concepts. Candidates can actively prepare with the help of GMAT Reading Comprehension Practice Questions.

Solution and Explanation

Question 1
Which one of the following most accurately states the main idea of the passage?

(A) Although they flourished independently, the pre–World War I European painters who developed new ways of looking at the world shared a common desire to break with the traditions of representational art.
(B) The work of the pre–World War I European painters who developed new ways of looking at the world cannot be said to have intentionally predicted social changes but only to have anticipated new directions in artistic perception and expression.
(C) The work of the pre–World War I European painters who developed new ways of looking at the world was important for its ability to predict social changes and its anticipation of new directions in artistic expression.
(D) Art critics who believe that the work of some pre–World War I European painters foretold imminent social changes are mistaken because art is incapable of expressing a vision of the future.
(E) Art critics who believe that the work of some pre–World War I European painters foretold imminent social changes are mistaken because the social upheavals that followed World War I were impossible to predict.

Question 2
The art critic mentioned in lines 19–20 would be most likely to agree with which one of the following statements?

(A) The supposed innovations of Picasso, Braque, Kandinsky, and Malevich were based on stylistic discoveries that had been made in the Renaissance but went unexplored for centuries.
(B) The work of Picasso, Braque, Kandinsky, and Malevich possessed prophetic power because these artists employed the traditional techniques of representational art with unusual skill.
(C) The importance of the work of Picasso, Braque, Kandinsky, and Malevich is due largely to the fact that the work was stylistically ahead of its time.
(D) The prophecies embodied in the work of Picasso, Braque, Kandinsky, and Malevich were shrewd predictions based on insights into the European political situation.
(E) The artistic styles brought into being by Picasso, Braque, Kandinsky, and Malevich, while stylistically innovative, were of little significance to the history of post-World War I art.

Question 3
According to the passage, the statements of Picasso and Braque indicate that

(A) they had a long-standing interest in politics
(B) they worked actively to bring about social change
(C) their formal innovations were actually the result of chance
(D) their work was a deliberate attempt to transcend visual reality
(E) the formal aspects of their work were of little interest to them

Question 4
The author presents the example of Delacroix in order to illustrate which one of the following claims?

(A) Social or political changes usually lead to important artistic innovations.
(B) Artistic innovations do not necessarily anticipate social or political upheavals.
(C) Some European painters have used art to predict social or political changes.
(D) Important stylistic innovations are best achieved by abandoning past traditions.
(E) Innovative artists can adapt themselves to social or political changes.

Question 5
Which one of the following most accurately describes the contents of the passage?

(A) The author describes an artistic phenomenon; introduces one interpretation of this phenomenon; proposes an alternative interpretation and then supports this alternative by criticizing the original interpretation.
(B) The author describes an artistic phenomenon; identifies the causes of that phenomenon; illustrates some of the consequences of the phenomenon and then speculates about the significance of these consequences.
(C) The author describes an artistic phenomenon; articulates the traditional interpretation of this phenomenon; identifies two common criticisms of this view and then dismisses each of these criticisms by appeal to an example.
(D) The author describes an artistic phenomenon; presents two competing interpretations of the phenomenon; dismisses both interpretations by appeal to an example and then introduces an alternative interpretation.
(E) The author describes an artistic phenomenon; identifies the causes of the phenomenon; presents an argument for the importance of the phenomenon and then advocates an attempt to recreate the phenomenon.

Question 6
According to the author, the work of the pre–World War I painters described in the passage contains an example of each of the following EXCEPT:

(A) an interest in issues of representation and form
(B) a stylistic break with traditional art
(C) the introduction of new artistic techniques
(D) the ability to anticipate later artists
(E) the power to predict social changes

Question 7
Which one of the following characteristics of the painters discussed in the second paragraph does the author of the passage appear to value most highly?

(A) their insights into pre–World War I politics
(B) the visionary nature of their social views
(C) their mastery of the techniques of representational art
(D) their ability to adjust to changing social conditions
(E) their stylistic and aesthetic accomplishments

Suggested GMAT Reading Comprehension Samples

• Changes in the Volume of Unemployment are Governed by Three GMAT Reading Comprehension
• Prevailing Scholarly Opinion Holds that Modern Science Began GMAT Reading Comprehension
• The Notion of the Great Plains as a Vast Roaming Ground for Cowboys GMAT Reading Comprehension
• A Recent Study Evaluated The Prevailing Explanation Offered GMAT Reading Comprehension
• Different Approaches To The Issue Of Cultural Expression GMAT Reading Comprehension
• It Is Hard To Find A Politician Who Doesn’t Have Some Sort Of Plan GMAT Reading Comprehension
• Many Sociologists Who Examined The Phenomenon Of Secrecy Considered GMAT Reading Comprehension
• Tribal Immunity Is The Doctrine Of Sovereign Immunity GMAT Reading Comprehension
• How does Ritual Affect Relationships between Groups GMAT Reading Comprehension
• The World Bank has Offered Ethical Guidance to the Governments GMAT Reading Comprehension
• For more than forty years, a controlling insight in my GMAT Reading Comprehension
• According To Legend, Aesculapius Bore Two Daughters, Panacea and Hyegeia GMAT Reading Comprehension
• Although I am Familiar With Rembrandt's Work, Through Photographs GMAT Reading Comprehension
• Given His Luminous Treatment Of Light, Sky, and Water, J.M.W. Turner GMAT Reading Comprehension
• The Vienna Circle, An Association of Philosophers Gathered Around GMAT Reading Comprehension
• Dogs Were Domesticated Between 40,000 And 20,000 Years Ago GMAT Reading Comprehension
• On The Whole, The American Population Has Very Little Taste For Income GMAT Reading Comprehension
• One Of The Cornerstones Of Economic Reform In The Formerly Communist GMAT Reading Comprehension
• There Are Four Areas Of US Federal Law Linked Under The Rubric GMAT Reading Comprehension
• Boccaccio‘s Donnée Is Of An Upper-Class Milieu GMAT Reading Comprehension