Archaeologist: An ancient stone

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Stimulus

Archaeologist: An ancient stone building at our excavation site was composed of three kinds of stone—quartz, granite, and limestone. Of these, only limestone occurs naturally in the area. Most of the buildings at the site from the same time period had limestone as their only stone building we are studying probably was not a dwelling.

What this question is testing

Strengthen

Your task

Find the choice that makes the argument's conclusion more likely to be true.

Common trap

Answers that are consistent with the argument but add no real support, or that strengthen a claim the argument doesn't make.

Winning move

Locate the gap between evidence and conclusion, then pick the choice that closes it.

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The question

14.

Which one of the following, if true, would most strengthen the

Answer choices

Opposite5% picked this
Most of the buildings that were used as dwellings at the site were made, at least
We could strengthen the argument if we knew that most dwellings were only limestone. By allowing for the idea most dwellings were a mix of stones, this goes in the opposite direction of what we want.
5%
Correct87% picked this
Most of the buildings at the site that were not dwellings were made, at least in part, from types of stone that do
Why this is right
This helps to skew the data in a way that helps the author. If most buildings were dwellings, most buildings were only limestone, and most non-dwellings used stuff besides limestone, then it starts to feel more like this building we’re looking at, which uses stuff besides limestone is not a dwelling.
Skill tested: Strengthen · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.
87%
Unclear Impact3% picked this
Most of the buildings that were built from stones not naturally occurring in the area were not built
The fact that other mixed-stone buildings use stuff besides quartz and granite doesn’t help us determine whether this mixed-stone building we’re looking at is a dwelling or not.
3%
Opposite2% picked this
Most of the buildings at the site were used
Weren’t we already told that most of the buildings were dwellings? I guess we were told “most buildings from the same time period were human dwellings”. This answer adds that most buildings from any time period at the site were a dwelling of some sort. At any rate, this weakens the argument. If most buildings at site were dwellings, then the building they’re looking at is probably a dwelling.
2%
Unclear Impact4% picked this
No quartz has been discovered on the site other than that found in the
The fact that this building is the only one with quartz doesn’t help us figure out whether it’s more likely a dwelling or a non-dwelling.
4%

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