New historical research suggests to some historians that most early European settlers in the Americas underestimated the amount of time it would take them to learn to properly farm the land. This conclusion is based on written accounts taken from more than a dozen sites in what is now Virginia, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Other historians believe that since these accounts are taken only from a limited number of official records of property that had to be sold in order for the owners to avoid bankruptcy, they give a false impression of the status of farmers in those regions.

In the argument given, the two portions in boldface play which of the following roles?

(A) The first is evidence for an unstated conclusion ; the second is evidence that is used to weaken the conclusion suggested by the first piece of evidence.
(B) The first is background information; the second is evidence that provides a link from the background information to a possible conclusion.
(C) The first is a conclusion; the second provides an interpretation that conflicts with an assumption made by that conclusion.
(D) The first is evidence that supports a stated conclusion; the second is evidence that does not directly address the strength of that conclusion.
(E) The first is a conclusion; the second is evidence that is used to weaken the certainty of that conclusion.



OA E

Source: EMPOWERgmat