Examkin

Question

Difficulty: HardStrengthening Arguments

Art historians recently analyzed a 14th-century illuminated codex of previously unknown origin and hypothesized that it was illuminated at Monastery X rather than at neighboring Monastery Y. In support of this hypothesis, the historians noted that chemical analysis of the blue pigment in the codex's illustrations revealed a specific trace ratio of mineral impurities identical to that of lapis lazuli imports recorded exclusively in Monastery X's financial ledgers from that era. Which of the following, if true, provides the strongest support for the historians' hypothesis?

  1. Financial ledgers from Monastery X indicate that all imported lapis lazuli pigments were strictly reserved for internal manuscript production and were never traded or gifted to outside scriptoria.Answer
  2. B
    Monastery X routinely supplied raw mineral pigments, including imported lapis lazuli, to Monastery Y in exchange for specialized parchment materials.
  3. C
    Lapis lazuli was the most expensive pigment used by European monastic scriptoria during the 14th century.
  4. D
    The leather binding style of the codex reflects craftsmanship techniques that were common throughout the entire geographical region during that century.
  5. E
    Monastery X produced a substantially larger volume of illuminated manuscripts than Monastery Y did during the 14th century.

Answer

The statement that Monastery X strictly reserved all imported lapis lazuli pigments for internal manuscript production and never traded or gifted them to outside scriptoria provides the strongest support for the conclusion.
The argument concludes that Monastery X illuminated the codex based on the match between the pigment in the codex and Monastery X's imported lapis lazuli. For this evidence to strongly point to Monastery X as the creator, Monastery Y must not have had access to Monastery X's lapis lazuli. The option stating that Monastery X strictly reserved its lapis lazuli for internal use and never traded or gifted it directly eliminates the possibility that Monastery Y acquired and used the pigment, thereby validating the author's attribution.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the premise and conclusion of the argument.
Premise: The codex contains blue pigment matching lapis lazuli imports documented exclusively in Monastery X's ledgers. Conclusion: The codex was illuminated at Monastery X rather than Monastery Y.
Deconstructing the argument reveals the logical gap between possessing matching pigment data and proving exclusive origin.
2
Identify the unstated assumption or potential vulnerability in the author's logic.
The argument assumes that Monastery Y could not have used Monastery X's lapis lazuli pigment to illuminate the codex.
If Monastery X shared or sold its pigment to Monastery Y, the presence of that pigment in the codex would no longer prove Monastery X was the sole creator.
3
Evaluate the answer choices to find the statement that closes this logical gap.
Confirming that Monastery X never shared or traded its lapis lazuli pigments rules out the possibility that Monastery Y used the pigment, thereby strongly supporting Monastery X as the origin.
Eliminating alternative explanations is a classic mechanism for strengthening causal and attribution arguments on the GMAT.

Key Concept

Strengthening by ruling out alternative explanations / confirming key assumptions
Estimated Time:2m 0s
Rate this question

Topics

Strengthening Arguments

More questions from this topic