BoldFace8

Question

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.

pmenon · Answer

i will go for B

buffdaddy · Answer

i think the answer is E. this one is a tough one.

basically the argument is why do early greek writings go both way? if the alphabet was adopted from the Phenoecians (who wrote different ways at different times), the adopted direction would be in ONE way, i.e the way that the Phenoecians were writing at the time.

so E points out the bold parts out correctly based on the above argument

sondenso · Answer

Buffdaddy, OA is not E :lol:

Can there be more disscusion?

buffdaddy · Answer

i am stumped..will try this one again tonight (work is busy today)

diehard4 · Answer

i will go with B as second boldface clearly represents assumption since it starts with 'they would surely...' and first boldface represents evidence

vksunder · Answer

I pick B -- The second part states - Greek would surely have adopted......based on the previously stated evidence.

Evidence - the text of these earliest surviving Greek inscriptions sometimes runs from right to left and sometimes from left to right

Assumption - and in the process  i]they would surely  have adopted  whatever convention the Phoenicians were then using with respect to the direction of writing

Damn this is a hard one. I'm a newbie and this is my first boldface question. Are there a lot of these types in OG11. Are these sort of questions relatively harder than the regular one's. Also, could you please specify the source of this question.

Thanks!

sondenso · Answer

This is from Test Set

and OA is B. Thanks!

vksunder · Answer

Test set meaning??? MGMAT test set?

Do you have explanations for this question. I picled B, but I dont think my rationale is correct.

Thanks for the post.

BoldFace8

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