A purse containing 32 ancient gold coins that had been minted in Moroc

Question

A purse containing 32 ancient gold coins that had been minted in Morocco was discovered in the ruins of an ancient Jordanian city some 4,000 kilometers to the east of Morocco. In its time the Jordanian city was an important trading center along the trade route linking China and Europe, and it was also a popular stopover for pilgrims on the route between Morocco and Mecca. The purse of a trader in the city would probably have contained a more diverse set of coins.

The statements above, if true, most strongly support which one of the following hypotheses?

(A) Moroccan coins were more valuable in the ancient city than were Jordanian coins.

(B) Most gold coins available during the time when the ancient city thrived were minted in Morocco.

(C) The purse with the gold coins had been brought to the ancient city by a pilgrim on the route between Morocco and Mecca.

(D) Gold coins were the only medium of exchange used in the ancient city.

(E) Pilgrims and traders in the ancient city were unlikely to have interacted with one another.

bronaugust · Accepted Answer

As a solver, the very first step is to figure out what the examiner wants out of you. The examiner wants you to choose an answer option that is most strongly supported by the statements. Each answer option is a hypothesis as indicated by the stem of the question. Now that your answer option must be 100 percent supported/validated by the para, you shall read and understand the statements. Let's state the facts:

Fact #1  -> 32 ancient gold coins were minted in Morocco.

Fact #2  -> The 32 coins were discovered in the ruins of an ancient Jordanian city.

Fact #3  -> This Jordanian city is some 4,000 kms to the east of Morocco.

Fact #4  -> When the discovery happened, Jordanian city was an important trading center along the trade route linking China and Europe.

Fact #5  -> The Jordanian city was also a stopover for pilgrims on the route between Morocco and Mecca.

Fact #6  -> The purse of a trader in the Jordanian city would probably have contained a more diverse set of coins.  (This fact, which is in actuality an opinion of the author, suggests that the discovered bag very likely did not belong to any trader from the Jordanian city.)

Since we're dealing with a conclusion question, the right answer must simply be validated by the para. The statements given will serve as premises/evidences to the hypothesis, which, by the way, is the right answer. Answer options that are out of context along with those that are very extreme can be eliminated. Now, let's eliminate the incorrect answer options.

(A) Moroccan coins were more valuable in the ancient city than were Jordanian coins. -   OUT OF SCOPE   -  Note that none of the facts actually discuss the value of Moroccan or Jordanian coins, implying this comparison cannot be substantiated by the stated facts  -    ELIMINATE

(B) Most gold coins available during the time when the ancient city thrived were minted in Morocco. -   OUT OF SCOPE   -  Not worried about any info regarding MOST gold coins  -    ELIMINATE

(C) The purse with the gold coins had been brought to the ancient city by a pilgrim on the route between Morocco and Mecca. -   MATCHES WITH THE OPINION OF THE AUTHOR/FACT #6   -  No reason to elimate  -    KEEP

(D) Gold coins were the only medium of exchange used in the ancient city. -   VERY EXTREME   -  The word 'only' brings in an element of extremity, one that is not substantiated by the facts  -    ELIMINATE

(E) Pilgrims and traders in the ancient city were unlikely to have interacted with one another. -   OUT OF SCOPE   -  Not worried about any sort of interaction in any of the facts listed  -    ELIMINATE

Hence, C is the right answer.

Abhishek009 · Answer

The last line of the stimulus tries to state that the purse of a trader would contain diverse set of coins for trading in different countries, further the pilgrims on voyage would not require different coins as they would be only required for their journey and as such the purse was brought by the pilgrims who were travelling between Morocco and Mecca, answer must be (C)

gvij2017 · Answer

If the purse with coin itself was carried in by pilgrim on route between Morocco and Mecca, purse might contain a more diverse set of coins.

I think C is correct choice here.

prashantp929 · Answer

this seems to be combination type answer... purse was discovered in ruins of jordanian city..and jordan was popular stopover on the route of morocco and mecca...therefore only answer that satisfies this is C

AG3112 · Answer

For those who assumed gold coins can also be diverse; only the first line mentions gold coins. The other lines only mentioned coins. This means other coins like bronze, copper could also exist. I made the same mistake of assuming that it could be diverse patterns in the gold coin.

zfu4820 · Answer

There are two group of people mentioned in the passage, one is treader who made business trip between eruo and china, and the other is pilgrrms from Morrocco to Meca.
since the last sentence menetioned that if the purse is belong to a trader, the coins insider it would probably have contained a more diverse set of coins. So we can eliminate the choice that realted to the traders, and choose answer describe the prigrim .

SomeOneUnique · Answer

A purse containing 32 ancient gold coins that had been minted in Morocco was discovered in the ruins of an ancient Jordanian city some 4,000 kilometers to the east of Morocco. In its time the Jordanian city was an important trading center along the trade route linking China and Europe, and it was also a popular stopover for pilgrims on the route between Morocco and Mecca. The purse of a trader in the city would probably have contained a more diverse set of coins.

The statements above, if true, most strongly support which one of the following hypotheses?

(A) Moroccan coins were more valuable in the ancient city than were Jordanian coins.

(B) Most gold coins available during the time when the ancient city thrived were minted in Morocco.

(C) The purse with the gold coins had been brought to the ancient city by a pilgrim on the route between Morocco and Mecca.

(D) Gold coins were the only medium of exchange used in the ancient city.

(E) Pilgrims and traders in the ancient city were unlikely to have interacted with one another.

We need to pick an option that supports the conclusion. 
 Conclusion/hypotheses: The purse of a trader in the city would probably have contained a more diverse set of coins.

Upon reading all the options I realized that someone who visits a new place would have the new place's currency and the currency of his own place. 
 Option C conveys the same sense. 
 A: Because A claims about the coins that are not related to the purse mentioned in the conclusion, I will eliminate A. 
 B: In spite of strengthening, if we take B to be true, it weakens the conclusion hence not an option worth considering. 
 C: If a pilgrim visits the popular stopover, her/his purse will most probably contain the coins minted for her/his own place(at least some representation of the same) and the coins minted for the pilgrim place that she/he is going to visit. 
D: Similar to B, option D also weakens the conclusion by not mentioning anything related to the purse or the possible coins in the purse.
As per D, any coin anywhere in the world at that time were gold coins; if that is the case then how can the coins in the purse be of different varieties? Because D leaves us without support, eliminate D.
E: If we take option E to be true then interaction between traders and some other profession is necessary in order for the purse to contain a diverse set of coins. However, E claims the opposite of the requirement and claims the interaction is unnecessary; eliminate E.

C most strongly supports the hypothesis.

rishabh1105 · Answer

A purse containing 32 ancient gold coins that had been minted in Morocco was discovered in the ruins of an ancient Jordanian city some 4,000 kilometers to the east of Morocco. In its time the Jordanian city was an important trading center along the trade route linking China and Europe, and it was also a popular stopover for pilgrims on the route between Morocco and Mecca. The purse of a trader in the city would probably have contained a more diverse set of coins.

The statements above, if true, most strongly support which one of the following hypotheses?

(A) Moroccan coins were more valuable in the ancient city than were Jordanian coins.
None of the statements point us in this direction.

(B) Most gold coins available during the time when the ancient city thrived were minted in Morocco.
Not necessarily. None of the statements point us in this direction. We just know that the coins found in the ancient city were minted in Morocco. No more no less.

(C) The purse with the gold coins had been brought to the ancient city by a pilgrim on the route between Morocco and Mecca.
The last statement said that a trader's purse would have contained diverse coins and the major reasons given to us for travelling between the cities was trade center and piligrim, so as the coins were all same it wouldnt have been trader and hence piligrim

(D) Gold coins were the only medium of exchange used in the ancient city.
No information points us to this

(E) Pilgrims and traders in the ancient city were unlikely to have interacted with one another.
Not sure. No information points us to this

VerbalBot · Answer

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A purse containing 32 ancient gold coins that had been minted in Moroc

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A purse containing 32 ancient gold coins that had been minted in Moroc

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