Questions with Except and Not

The following is an example of “Except/Not” questions: All of the following are mentioned as members of the French Impressionist group EXCEPT (A) Edgar Dégas. (B) Camille Pissaro. (C) Rembrandt van Rijn. (D) Mary Cassat. In this question, you look for the answer that names a painter who is NOT a French Impressionist. In this case, it is choice (C), Rembrandt van Rijn. Whenever you see this kind of question, remember that the answer is the one that is different from the others. Sometimes an answer has nothing to do with the main topic. In the above example, choice (C) might have been “Honore de Balzac,” who was French but not a painter. These kinds of questions will be asked at least four times per passage. Look at the following example: The American composer, George Gershwin, was born in 1898 in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Russian-Jewish immigrants. He began his musical education at age 11, when his family bought a second-hand piano. The piano was not bought for him, but for his older brother, Ira. However, George surprised everyone when he (5) played a popular song, which he had taught himself by following the keys on a neighbor’s player piano, and his parents decided that George should receive