Critical Reasoning

Samples from a ceramic vase found at a tomb in Sicily prove that the vase was manufactured in Greece. Since the occupant of the tomb died during the reign of a Sicilian ruler who lived 2,700 years ago, the location of the vase indicates that there was trade between Sicily and Greece 2,700 years ago.

Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?

A. Sicilian potters who lived during the reign of the ruler did not produce work of the same level of quality as did Greek potters.

B. Sicilian clay that was used in the manufacture of pottery during the ruler's reign bore little resemblance to Greek clay used to manufacture pottery at that time.

C. At the time that the occupant of the tomb was alive, there were ships capable of transporting large quantities of manufactured goods between Sicily and Greece.

D. The vase that was found at the Sicilian tomb was not placed there many generations later by descendants of the occupant of the tomb.

E. The occupant of the tomb was not a member of the royal family to which the Sicilian ruler belonged.

OA is D

Please explain.

The argument proves that there was trade between greece and sicily.

Option A talks about the level of work of sicily and greece and hence can be ruled out.

Option B talks about the resemblance of the clay types and can be ruled out.

Option C talks of the possibility of an available communication and can also be ruled out.

Option E is out of context and has no resemblance.

Option D talks about a possibility that the vase might have been placed there afterwards by someone else. If this were true,the argument above crumbles. Hence this needs to be false and has to be an assumption for the above argument to be true.
Hence D.

you can also use the negation technique here...

D states...

The vase that was found at the Sicilian tomb was not placed there many generations later by descendants of the occupant of the tomb.

if we negate, we get ...

The vase that was found at the Sicilian tomb was placed there many generations later by descendants of the occupant of the tomb.

Therefore, we weaken the argument and find the assumption

IMO D

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the replies. Appreciate them. I noticed that both of you are using a similar approach -- the "negation" method in breaking down this passage.

I still don't understand, however, how you were able to arrive at this answer. Why is it important that the argument crumbles if assumption D is correct?

If you don't mind elaborating of this further, I would appreciate it.

My opinion

Samples from a ceramic vase found at a tomb in Sicily prove that the vase was manufactured in Greece. Since the occupant of the tomb died during the reign of a Sicilian ruler who lived 2,700 years ago, the location of the vase indicates that there was trade between Sicily and Greece 2,700 years ago.

Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?

A. Sicilian potters who lived during the reign of the ruler did not produce work of the same level of quality as did Greek potters.

How do we know quality is the one thing that distinguishes greek and sicily vases ?.Probably both have the same quality and sicily potters draw snakes on their vase and greek draw cats

B. Sicilian clay that was used in the manufacture of pottery during the ruler's reign bore little resemblance to Greek clay used to manufacture pottery at that time.

The same thing as above.How do we know only clay is used to distinguish between the two?

C. At the time that the occupant of the tomb was alive, there were ships capable of transporting large quantities of manufactured goods between Sicily and Greece.

Okay...Fine Can you really tell whether there is only one sea route from sicily to greece.How about a land route that takes a lot of time but still connects the two

D. The vase that was found at the Sicilian tomb was not placed there many generations later by descendants of the occupant of the tomb.

Now if somebody kept the vase after this guy's tomb was built .Then we cannot say the vase was transported from greece at that time

E. The occupant of the tomb was not a member of the royal family to which the Sicilian ruler belonged.
So wat !!!probably these guys are rich enough to build tombs for their servants or even their pets for that matter

hope my explanation helps a bit

Hate assumption questions but this one was an easy one. All but D seem too out of context.
in A its the quality of vases that is irrelevant
in C its transport by ships
in E its the royal family
and B is just supporting the statement, its not an assumption

I also with answer D