The ancient Nubians--Assumption!

This topic has expert replies
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 193
Joined: Wed Dec 05, 2012 6:53 am
Thanked: 4 times
Followed by:5 members

The ancient Nubians--Assumption!

by amysky_0205 » Tue Dec 18, 2012 1:04 am
The ancient Nubians inhabited an area in which typhus occurred, yet surprisingly few of their skeletons show the usual evidence of this disease. The skeletons do show deposits of tetracycline, an antibiotic produced by a bacterium common in Nubian soil. This bacterium can flourish on the dried grain used for making two staples of the Nubian diet, beer and bread. Thus, tetracycline in their food probably explains the low incidence of typhus among ancient Nubians.
Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument relies?

A. The tetracycline deposits did not form after the bodies were buried.
B. The diseases other than typhus to which the ancient Nubians were exposed would not be affected by tetracycline.
C. Typhus is generally fatal.
D. Nubian grain became contaminated with tetracycline-producing bacteria prior to being harvested.
E. Bread and beer were the only foods eaten by the ancient Nubians which could have contained tetracycline.

is this OA A or D??

can someone explain~ thank u!!!
Source: — Critical Reasoning |

Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 298
Joined: Tue Feb 16, 2010 1:09 am
Thanked: 2 times
Followed by:1 members

by Deepthi Subbu » Wed Dec 19, 2012 10:58 pm
The OA is definitely A. What if tera-cycline was formed after the bodies were buried. It means that there was a different reason for the low incidence of typhus .

Coming to D, before or after harvesting doesnot matter. What matters is consumption and effect of teracycline on typhus.

Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 142
Joined: Sat Oct 20, 2012 3:31 am
Location: New Delhi
Thanked: 20 times
Followed by:3 members

by aman88 » Thu Dec 20, 2012 8:55 am
amysky_0205 wrote:The ancient Nubians inhabited an area in which typhus occurred, yet surprisingly few of their skeletons show the usual evidence of this disease. The skeletons do show deposits of tetracycline, an antibiotic produced by a bacterium common in Nubian soil. This bacterium can flourish on the dried grain used for making two staples of the Nubian diet, beer and bread. Thus, tetracycline in their food probably explains the low incidence of typhus among ancient Nubians.
Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument relies?

A. The tetracycline deposits did not form after the bodies were buried.
B. The diseases other than typhus to which the ancient Nubians were exposed would not be affected by tetracycline.
C. Typhus is generally fatal.
D. Nubian grain became contaminated with tetracycline-producing bacteria prior to being harvested.
E. Bread and beer were the only foods eaten by the ancient Nubians which could have contained tetracycline.

is this OA A or D??

can someone explain~ thank u!!!
It's always better to perform a Negation Test in assumption CR questions.

Negation test is, negating the answer choices and then seeing whether the conclusion is still valid. If after negation, the conclusion falls apart, then that answer choice is the correct answer.

Lets try this here.

Conclusion: 'tetracycline in their food probably explains the low incidence of typhus among ancient Nubians.' [And 'tetracycline' is something that prevents the disease.]

Choice A: The tetracycline deposits did not form after the bodies were buried.
Negate it: The tetracycline deposits may have formed after the bodies were buried.

After negating choice A, the conclusion falls apart. Therefore, A is the right answer.
Try this on other choices and see for yourself how the conclusion remains.

:)
Thanks.

User avatar
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 111
Joined: Tue Jan 31, 2012 1:06 pm
Thanked: 15 times
Followed by:8 members

by charu_mahajan » Thu Dec 20, 2012 3:38 pm
aman88 has nailed it...Though I remember doing a different version of this question where the answer choice was - The tetracycline was not lost while cooking (Making bread and beer) - something like this.