Among the most visited art museums in the world, the Galleria dell'Accademia in Florence had approximately 1.7 million visitors in...
GMAT Information and Ideas : (Ideas) Questions
Among the most visited art museums in the world, the Galleria dell'Accademia in Florence had approximately 1.7 million visitors in 2019. The Galleria dell'Accademia also offers virtual tours that art lovers can view online for free. Although there were initial concerns that people who viewed the virtual tours would then consider an in-person visit unnecessary, museum administrators claim that their surveys of in-person visitors show that those concerns were unjustified.
Which statement, if true, would most directly support the administrators' claim?
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Create Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| "Among the most visited art museums in the world, the Galleria dell'Accademia in Florence had approximately 1.7 million visitors in 2019." |
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| "The Galleria dell'Accademia also offers virtual tours that art lovers can view online for free." |
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| "Although there were initial concerns that people who viewed the virtual tours would then consider an in-person visit unnecessary," |
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| "museum administrators claim that their surveys of in-person visitors show that those concerns were unjustified." |
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Provide Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Visual Structure Map:
[CONTEXT: Museum popularity - 1.7M visitors] → [NEW FEATURE: Virtual tours offered free] → [CONCERN: Virtual tours might reduce visits] → [COUNTER-CLAIM: Survey evidence shows concern unjustified]
Main Point: The Galleria dell'Accademia's administrators believe their survey data disproves initial concerns that virtual tours would reduce in-person visits.
Argument Flow: The passage establishes the museum's popularity, introduces virtual tours as a new offering, acknowledges initial concerns about virtual tours potentially reducing physical visits, then presents the administrators' claim that survey evidence shows these concerns were unfounded.
Step 2: Interpret the Question Precisely
What's being asked? Which statement would most directly support the administrators' claim that virtual tours don't discourage in-person visits.
What type of answer do we need? Evidence that would strengthen or validate the administrators' position.
Any limiting keywords? "Most directly support" means we need the strongest, most relevant evidence for their specific claim.
Step 3: Prethink the Answer
- The administrators claim that virtual tours don't make people skip in-person visits
- To support this claim, we need evidence that shows virtual tours actually encourage people to visit in person or don't discourage people from visiting
- The strongest support would be evidence showing that virtual tours actually help drive in-person visits rather than replace them
- Shows virtual tours actually convinced visitors to plan in-person visits
- This directly contradicts the concern by proving virtual tours encourage rather than discourage visits
- This is exactly what would support the administrators' claim most strongly
- Says most visitors didn't know about virtual tours before visiting
- This doesn't tell us whether virtual tours discourage visits - it just shows many people visit without knowing about them
- Says most visitors live outside Florence
- This information about visitor geography is completely unrelated to virtual tours' impact on visit decisions
- Says visitors would use virtual tours to reminisce after their visit
- This is about post-visit behavior, not whether virtual tours discourage initial visits