#17 - Archaeologist: The mosaics that were removed from

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation

Strengthen. The correct answer choice is (A)

At its core, this stimulus contains a fairly simple argument. Because the mosaics had already served their purpose to current archaeologists, and may have purpose for future archaeologists if they were left at their original site, the mosaics should have been left there. The argument draws a conclusion about what should have been done based on what would lead to the best results for current and future archaeologists. Since leaving the mosaics where they were found would not harm current archaeologists, and taking them away could hurt future archaeologists, the author concludes that they should have been left where they were.

Remember to read this question stem carefully. While it may look at first like a Justify the Conclusion question stem, it is really a Strengthen question stem due to the inclusion of the word “most.” We are trying to find the answer choice that most helps the conclusion—in other words, the choice that strengthens it. Students who rush through the question stem could easily miss that key word.

Answer choice (A): This is the correct answer choice. The author bases his conclusion solely on what would be best for the archaeological world. He or she never considers others who may be impacted. The general public would probably prefer the mosaic in a museum or somewhere else accessible. This answer choice supports the argument by eliminating non-archaeological considerations.

Answer choice (B): This answer choice has no impact on the argument. The issue of flooding does not influence where the mosaic should be.

Answer choice (C): This answer choice is a tempting one, but it does not meaningfully add to the argument. The stimulus already tells us that there is information to be gleaned from the mosaic in the context of the dig site, so knowing that the materials is one aspect of the mosaic that can be understood best at the site does not actually add information to the argument.

Answer choice (D): This answer choice, if anything, weakens the argument by giving a reason that we should not care that the mosaics were removed. It is fairly common for there to an opposite answer choice, so make sure you are focused enough to remember if you are dealing with a Strengthen question or Weaken question. It seems like an obvious point, but while rushing through the test, it gets easy to confuse question types.

Answer choice (E): This answer choice is completely irrelevant to the considerations in the stimulus. It does not matter if the removal did not impact the environment. We are trying to argue that the mosaics should not have been removed. The fact that removal generally does not cause environmental damage does not mean that it did not cause damage in this case. Further, lack of environmental damage does not support that the mosaic should not have been removed.

[Johnclem]

Hi.
I chose C for this answer, and I am still convinced it strengthens the argument. What's wrong here ?


Why?- So that archeologists would not be misled when studying the site.

* mosaics shouldn't have been removed




-John

[Clay Cooper]

Hi John,

Thanks for your question.

Answer choice C is incorrect because it does not strengthen our conclusion. The conclusion is the first statement of the speaker - that the mosaics should have been left in their original location. He offers in support of this position the fact that we already had learned from them everything of archaeological value that they could tell us.

Answer choice C doesn't really add anything knew to what we knew already; whether or not future archaeologists could have known what materials were used in the construction of the frescoes had they been left in their original location does not seem like a persuasive reason to have left them there. Yes, it might turn out to be the case that our records are lost to these future historians and that their only chance of learning what materials were used in the frescoes construction was destroyed when we removed the frescoes, but that seems like a small price to pay to preserve the frescoes by removing them.

More specifically, C is wrong because A is a better answer choice (remember, we are always and everywhere looking for the best of the five answer choices). Our speaker in the stimulus seems concerned only with the archaeological value of these frescoes; what if they have artistic value, as well? If they do, this value would have been lost had we not removed them before the flooding. Answer choice A disallows this possibility, and thus greatly strengthens the argument; indeed, it very specifically tells us that the only evidence we ever need to consider in this matter is archaeological, thereby limiting the relevant facts to those we already know in the stimulus.

Did you prephrase this questions? This argument seems susceptible to a prephrase to me - I bet we could have guessed something fairly close to the correct answer before we ever read the answer choices. We might, in that case, have been less easily distracted by good-looking incorrect answers.

I hope this helps. Keep up the hard work.

[akanshalsat]

Hello! How do we tell this question stem apart from justify the conclusion?? It talks about "justifying the reasoning" and the word "assumed" is also used. Can we believe that its strengthen bc it says "helps" and justify the conclusions do NOT say helps (?) Please do let me know

[lsatnoobie]

I still don't understand C and find Clay's explanation a bit confusing.

I don’t see how C doesn’t strengthen the argument. If future archaeologists studying the site might be misled by their absence, then wouldn’t C “the materials used in the constructions…. ARE READILY APPARENT” serve as another reason why the mosaics SHOULD have been left there?

B/c if the future archaeologists were to go back, then they could see the readily apparent materials used to construct the mosaic.

[Adam Tyson]

akanshalsat, you got it - the presence of "most helps" or "helps" or "does most" in a stem that otherwise looks like a Justify stem will downgrade that stem to a Strengthen, because a true Justify question does nothing to reduce the amount of justification to anything below 100%. It's like "most proves" - that means it doesn't have to prove anything.

lsatnoobie, just because the materials used are apparent in their original location doesn't mean that they are NOT apparent when the mosaics are removed. This answer would be much better if we knew that the materials were apparent ONLY if examined in the original location, and even then only if we established that knowing about the materials was of some value. As it stands, that answer doesn't do anything to help the argument that it should have been left where it was, because we don't know if the materials being apparent is important to anyone or that they aren't also apparent in its absence.

See Clay's response about C vs A - A is the credited response because it if better than answer C, and we are always tasked with selecting the best answer of the five choices, and not merely one that could work. I don't think C strengthens at all, honestly, because my reaction to it is "so what, why should we care?", but even if you do see it as a possible helper (and many do), answer A eliminates all other considerations. If archaeology is all that matters, and we might mislead future archaeologists, then we definitely should have left them there to avoid that potential problem. We don't care about art students being able to look at it in a museum, or about it blocking a shipping channel, or about it leaching toxins into the water, or anything else, just archaeology, so it should have been left. Archaeologists have nothing to gain from removing it and might have something to lose.

One more reason to pick A over C, and that is what we sometimes call the Uniqueness Principle of answers. If you read C as being about preventing a problem for future archaeologists, that would mean that A is ALSO a good answer for the same reason - it, too, is about helping those archaeologists of the future. When one answer forces another answer to also be correct, the one doing the forcing (C in this example) must be incorrect. If it was the credited response, then A would also have to be credited, and there can be only one!

Short answer, to wrap it up, and I refer again back to Clay's response: A is right because it's better than any of the others. It's very strong, while C is very weak, and stronger strengthens more.

I hope that helped you both!

[whardy21]

I narrowed down my choices to A and C. I chose C. The conclusion in the stimulus is that the mosaics should have been left at Zeguma. The Premises were that archeologist might be misled by their absence. What can I add to the premises to justify that the mosaics should have been left at Zeguma? I chose C. However, I believe when C when it talks about materials used in the construction of mosaics, no where in the stimulus it addresses even slightly about the construction of mosaics. That has no impact on the conclusion that they should have been left their. C does not undoubtedly prove the conclusion compared to A.

[George George]

@whardy21

Yes, I agree with you. The issues in (C) of the "materials" used for mosiac "construction," and whether or not they would be "readily apparent," appear irrelevant to the conclusion about whether or not those mosaics should've been left at Zeugma. (C) does not strengthen the Archaeologist's argument.