#26 - A recent archaeological find in what was once the

[nrpandolfo]

Can't you make an argument that C is also a good answer choice.

The prephrase is the author is trying to prove that the tomb found is the largest tomb, but we cannot say that for sure.

Because the author doesn't consider tombs in all parts of Alexander's empire, "found in other regions" (i thought this to be Greece, or Asia), then the argument is flawed.

Thanks

[James Finch]

Hi NR,

It looks like you've misidentified the conclusion. The stimulus is arguing that this tomb must be Alexander's, which is premised on the fact that it is the largest ever found in Macedonia (to date) and Alexander was the greatest Macedonian in history. The prephrase here then would focus on that first premise: just because it's the largest yet found, doesn't mean that it is the largest ever built. There could be an even larger one that hasn't been found yet, so even if we take for granted that Alexander would have the largest tomb (a reasonable assumption) we can't say for certain that this was his tomb without knowing definitively that it is the largest ever built.

Answer choice (B) matches well to this prephrase, and is the correct answer choice.

Hope this helps!

[mtdaniel]

This is a tough question for me.

I think (A), (B) and (D) are all good criticisms. I eventually eliminated (A) because I thought it was weaker than (B) and (D).

I chose (D) because the stimulus specifically says that the archeologists only found the remains of the tomb, not the original tomb itself (which of course would be impossible), so therefore the stimulus must assume that the size of the original tomb was determined from its remains.

I avoided (B) because the stimulus talks about the tomb being the largest found *in the region*, and (B) discusses tombs generally, not specifically those found in the region.

I thought (A) was a decent criticism because the author claims that Alexander's conquests were what made him great, and ignored the fact that there might be greater Macedonians who achieved greatness through other means.

[Luke Haqq]

Hi mtdaniel!

You comment,

I chose (D) because the stimulus specifically says that the archeologists only found the remains of the tomb, not the original tomb itself (which of course would be impossible)

It's not clear why finding the remains means not finding the original. They're finding the remains of the original tomb itself. They're not finding the remains of some other tomb. In addition, it's not clear why that rationale would make answer choice (D) correct. Answer choice (D) states that the flaw is that the stimulus "fails to evaluate the significance of the fact that Alexander’s empire did not survive his death." Even if that were true, it could still be the case that he was "the greatest Macedonian in history, and so would have the largest tomb." We just don't know if this is indeed the largest tomb.

Answer choice (B) states that the flaw is that the stimulus "takes for granted that the largest tomb found so far must be the largest that was built." What we know about the mentioned remains is that they are the largest "ever found." That, however, leaves open the possibility that there are even larger remains that have not yet been found, or perhaps will never be found. In other words, we don't know that the largest tomb remains "ever found" in Macedonia are actually of the largest tomb ever in Macedonia. Accepting the claim in the stimulus that Alexander the Great would indeed have the largest tomb, we can't be sure that this one is it based on the reasoning from the stimulus alone.