greek

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jainrahul1985: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 228; Joined: Sun Aug 17, 2008 8:08 am; Thanked: 4 times

by jainrahul1985 » Sat Sep 18, 2010 11:27 pm

Although the earliest surviving Greek inscriptions written in an alphabet date from the eighth century B.C., a strong case can be made that the Greeks actually adopted alphabetic writing at least two centuries earlier. Significantly, the text of these earliest surviving Greek inscriptions sometimes runs from right to left and sometimes from left to right. Now, the Greeks learned alphabetic writing from the Phoenicians, and in the process they would surely have adopted whatever convention the Phoenicians were then using with respect to the direction of writing. Originally, Phoenicians writing ran in either direction, but by the eighth century B.C. it had been consistently written from right to left for about two centuries.
In the argument given, the two portions in boldface play which of the following roles?
A. The first provides evidence in support of the position that the argument seeks to establish; the second is that position.
B. The first provides evidence in support of the position that the argument seeks to establish; the second presents an assumption on which that argument relies.
C. The first is an assumption that the argument concludes is unjustified; the second presents part of the grounds for that conclusion.
D. The first is evidence that forms the basis for an objection to the position that the argument seeks to establish; the second is that position.
E. The first is evidence that forms the basis for an objection to the position that the argument seeks to establish; the second is a judgment that is introduced in order to call into question the relevance of that evidence
Confused b/w A and B .please suggest

Source: Beat The GMAT — Critical Reasoning | Sat Sep 18, 2010 11:27 pm

gmat1011: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 160; Joined: Mon Apr 05, 2010 4:41 am; Thanked: 7 times

by gmat1011 » Sun Sep 19, 2010 12:47 am

it should be B

The text of the inscriptions is a piece of evidence - first bold face

The argument is that Greeks started writing at least 2 centuries before 8 BC

The assumption being made is that since the Greeks learnt from the Ps they would have copied their style too of writing both ways before finally settling on the one way style by 8 BC - second bold face

B fits the roles for the 2 bold face parts

goyalsau: Legendary Member; Posts: 866; Joined: Mon Aug 02, 2010 6:46 pm; Location: Gwalior, India; Thanked: 31 times

by goyalsau » Sun Sep 19, 2010 1:01 am

jainrahul1985 wrote:Although the earliest surviving Greek inscriptions written in an alphabet date from the eighth century B.C., a strong case can be made that the Greeks actually adopted alphabetic writing at least two centuries earlier. Significantly, the text of these earliest surviving Greek inscriptions sometimes runs from right to left and sometimes from left to right. Now, the Greeks learned alphabetic writing from the Phoenicians, and in the process they would surely have adopted whatever convention the Phoenicians were then using with respect to the direction of writing. Originally, Phoenicians writing ran in either direction, but by the eighth century B.C. it had been consistently written from right to left for about two centuries.
In the argument given, the two portions in boldface play which of the following roles?
A. The first provides evidence in support of the position that the argument seeks to establish; the second is that position.
B. The first provides evidence in support of the position that the argument seeks to establish; the second presents an assumption on which that argument relies.
C. The first is an assumption that the argument concludes is unjustified; the second presents part of the grounds for that conclusion.
D. The first is evidence that forms the basis for an objection to the position that the argument seeks to establish; the second is that position.
E. The first is evidence that forms the basis for an objection to the position that the argument seeks to establish; the second is a judgment that is introduced in order to call into question the relevance of that evidence
Confused b/w A and B .please suggest

In option B,
First part - the text of these earliest surviving Greek inscriptions sometimes runs from right to left and sometimes from left to right
is the evidence or we can say fact.

even i was confused with the second part but if we do the negation test then the answer is clear.

Hope it helps.

goyalsau: Legendary Member; Posts: 866; Joined: Mon Aug 02, 2010 6:46 pm; Location: Gwalior, India; Thanked: 31 times

by goyalsau » Sun Sep 19, 2010 1:03 am

goyalsau wrote:
jainrahul1985 wrote:Although the earliest surviving Greek inscriptions written in an alphabet date from the eighth century B.C., a strong case can be made that the Greeks actually adopted alphabetic writing at least two centuries earlier. Significantly, the text of these earliest surviving Greek inscriptions sometimes runs from right to left and sometimes from left to right. Now, the Greeks learned alphabetic writing from the Phoenicians, and in the process they would surely have adopted whatever convention the Phoenicians were then using with respect to the direction of writing. Originally, Phoenicians writing ran in either direction, but by the eighth century B.C. it had been consistently written from right to left for about two centuries.
In the argument given, the two portions in boldface play which of the following roles?
A. The first provides evidence in support of the position that the argument seeks to establish; the second is that position.
B. The first provides evidence in support of the position that the argument seeks to establish; the second presents an assumption on which that argument relies.
C. The first is an assumption that the argument concludes is unjustified; the second presents part of the grounds for that conclusion.
D. The first is evidence that forms the basis for an objection to the position that the argument seeks to establish; the second is that position.
E. The first is evidence that forms the basis for an objection to the position that the argument seeks to establish; the second is a judgment that is introduced in order to call into question the relevance of that evidence
Confused b/w A and B .please suggest
In option B,
First part - the text of these earliest surviving Greek inscriptions sometimes runs from right to left and sometimes from left to right
is the evidence or we can say fact.

even i was confused with the second part but if we do the negation test then the answer is clear.

Hope it helps.

What the official Answer?

jainrahul1985: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 228; Joined: Sun Aug 17, 2008 8:08 am; Thanked: 4 times

by jainrahul1985 » Sun Sep 19, 2010 7:42 am

OA is B but can someone please explain in more detail why option B is correct and A wrong .

ov25: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 201; Joined: Sat Jul 10, 2010 2:23 pmFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 7 times

by ov25 » Sun Sep 19, 2010 8:07 am

Concl: Although the earliest surviving Greek inscriptions written in an alphabet date from the eighth century B.C., a strong case can be made that the Greeks actually adopted alphabetic writing at least two centuries earlier.

Premise 1: Significantly, the text of these earliest surviving Greek inscriptions sometimes runs from right to left and sometimes from left to right.

Premise 2: Now, the Greeks learned alphabetic writing from the Phoenicians, and in the process they would surely have adopted whatever convention the Phoenicians were then using with respect to the direction of writing.

Sub-conclusion/Premise 3: Originally, Phoenicians writing ran in either direction, but by the eighth century B.C. it had been consistently written from right to left for about two centuries

Assumption 1: There is evidence that this 2-way writing existed 2 centuries earlier to 8BC
Assumption 2: 8BC is a milestone for standardizing the writing direction for Greek.
Assumption 3: The phonecians had the writing that Greek currently follows

Per A, I think it is undisputed whether the first bold evidences the position the arg seeks to prove. However the second part that "second part is that evidence" is the question. If the second part is the position the arg seeks to establish it would have had to be that "A strong case can be made that Greek writing was established 2 centuries earlier".

Rather the second part says that they "surely have adopted the phonecians". If the arg did not make this assumption it would effect the arg that current writing follows that of phonecians.

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