KaranB1 wrote:
Please clarify how C is the correct answer
KaranB1,
Mishari did a nice run down of the answer choices in
this post.
This particular question is a bit tricky in that it flips the usual format of GMAT questions -- instead of the passage containing a conclusion/hypothesis that we must analyze in some way, the passage only contains the evidence. Our task is to find a hypothesis in the answer choices that logically follows from the evidence in the passage.
So let's go through the evidence systematically:
- Archaeologists are excavating a middle and a lower layer of a large mound to find the site of a legendary city that was besieged/destroyed.
- The bottom of the middle layer contains some pieces of pottery of type 3, known to be from a later period than the time of the destruction of the city. So, the middle layer was created sometime after the destruction of the city.
- The lower layer does not have any type 3 pottery pieces.
Then, with this evidence in mind, go through each answer choice and add the word "
therefore" at the beginning:
As an example, answer choice (A) would be "
therefore the lower layer contains the remains of the city where the siege took place."
This clearly doesn't logically follow the evidence in the passage (all we know is that a certain type of pottery is
not in the bottom layer). Repeat this process with the other answer choices, and see if that helps you arrive at the correct answer.
I hope this helps!