Last visit was: 27 Apr 2026, 23:16 It is currently 27 Apr 2026, 23:16
Home
Messages
Tests
Schools
Events
Close
GMAT Club Daily Prep
Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.

Customized
for You

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History

Track
Your Progress

every week, we’ll send you an estimated GMAT score based on your performance

Practice
Pays

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
Go to My Error Log Learn more
Close
Request Expert Reply
Confirm Cancel
Back to Forum
Create Topic
   1   2 
655-705 (Hard)|   Strengthen|                              
User avatar
custodio
User avatar
Joined: 25 Jun 2018
Last visit: 03 Feb 2023
Posts: 34
Own Kudos:
10
Given Kudos: 46
Posts: 34
Kudos: 10
Commemorative plaques cast from brass are a characteristic art form of 17 Nov 2021, 08:59
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
GMATNinja

You know,

When I saw the word "derived", I thought "something you learn from someone" kind of stuff.
In our case,
"Benin's knowledge of brass casting derived from the Portuguese" means "Portuguese LITERALLY taught them brass casting" to me.

But according to the argument, neighbour Ife TAUGHT Benin how to use brass casting.

So, I thought, (B) is not relevant because it does not matter whether Ife learnt brass casting from Portuguese (or someone else). What matters is, Ife TAUGHT Benin about brass casting (i.e. brass casting was derived from Ife, not from Portuguese). So, (B) does not provide any additional strengthening info.

I personally chose (C), as I thought "did not use brass casting" kind of means "did not know it".
At least (C) sounded more strengthener than (B) to me.

Any opinions?
User avatar
ReedArnoldMPREP
User avatar
Manhattan Prep Instructor
Joined: 30 Apr 2021
Last visit: 03 Dec 2025
Posts: 521
Own Kudos:
547
 [2]
Given Kudos: 37
GMAT 1: 760 Q49 V47
Expert
Expert reply
GMAT 1: 760 Q49 V47
Posts: 521
Kudos: 547
 [2]
Commemorative plaques cast from brass are a characteristic art form of 17 Nov 2021, 10:14
2
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
custodio
GMATNinja

You know,

When I saw the word "derived", I thought "something you learn from someone" kind of stuff.
In our case,
"Benin's knowledge of brass casting derived from the Portuguese" means "Portuguese LITERALLY taught them brass casting" to me.

But according to the argument, neighbour Ife TAUGHT Benin how to use brass casting.

So, I thought, (B) is not relevant because it does not matter whether Ife learnt brass casting from Portuguese (or someone else). What matters is, Ife TAUGHT Benin about brass casting (i.e. brass casting was derived from Ife, not from Portuguese). So, (B) does not provide any additional strengthening info.

I personally chose (C), as I thought "did not use brass casting" kind of means "did not know it".
At least (C) sounded more strengthener than (B) to me.

Any opinions?
Show more


C does not say "did not use brass casting." Take a second on your own and see if you can specify what C says and how that's different from your interpretation of it (this kind of accuracy is important!)

It says they did not make *plaques* out of brass casting (which is what the Benin used cast brass for). I think if C said "did not use brass casting *at all*" it would be a strengthener... but a very obvious one. Almost too obvious!

"Derived from" means 'has as an origin.'

So a musician today can make music derived from Bach even though Bach isn't around to directly teach that musician. And if another musician makes derivations of the first musician's music, that would *still* be derived from Bach. (And Bach himself probably made music derived from someone else's).

So yes, if the Portuguese taught the Ife, and the Ife taught the Benin, the Benin's methods would be 'derived' from the Portuguese method.
User avatar
Mavisdu1017
User avatar
Joined: 10 Aug 2021
Last visit: 04 Jan 2023
Posts: 341
Own Kudos:
49
Given Kudos: 226
Posts: 341
Kudos: 49
Commemorative plaques cast from brass are a characteristic art form of 23 Nov 2021, 01:01
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
GMATNinja
The author concludes that "it is unlikely that Benin’s knowledge of brass casting derived from the Portuguese." Since we need to strengthen the argument, let's make sure we understand the author's logic:

  • "Commemorative plaques cast from brass are a characteristic art form of the Benin culture of West Africa." - This background information tells us that cast-brass plaques are a typical form of art in Benin culture.
  • "The oldest surviving plaques date to the 1400s." - These plaques have been a part of Benin culture since at least the 1400s (maybe earlier).
  • "Some scholars hypothesize that brass-casting techniques were introduced by the Portuguese, who came to Benin in 1485 A.D." - How did the people of Benin learn brass-casting techniques? Perhaps from the Portuguese. This hypothesis is consistent with the date evidence (the earliest known plaques date to the 1400s, and the Portuguese came to Benin in the 1400s).
  • However, "Portuguese records of that expedition mention cast-brass jewelry sent to Benin’s king from neighboring Ife." - When the Portuguese first showed up, Benin already had cast-brass jewelry from Ife. This means that Benin had already been introduced to cast-brass prior to the arrival of the Portugal. This evidence seems to hurt the hypothesis of some scholars. The author thus concludes that Benin's knowledge of brass casting probably did not derive from (or "originate from") the Portuguese.

We need something that strengthens the author's argument (not the scholar's hypothesis):

Quote:
(A) The Portuguese records do not indicate whether their expedition of 1485 included metalworkers.
Notice that (A) does NOT say, "Portuguese records indicate that the expedition did not include metalworkers." (A) says that the records don't indicate either way. So perhaps the expedition included metalworkers and perhaps it did not. Although this leaves open the possibility that the expedition did not include metalworkers, the evidence in (A) is not very strong. Let's look for something better.

Quote:
(B) The Portuguese had no contact with Ife until the 1500s.
Show more
The evidence tells us that Benin had cast-brass objects from Ife before they encountered the Portuguese. This suggests that the people of Benin may have learned about cast-brass from Ife, not from the Portuguese.

But what if the people of Ife learned about brass casting from the Portuguese? In that case, any knowledge about brass casting transferred from Ife to Benin actually originated (or derived) from the Portuguese. In other words, if the Portuguese taught the people of Ife about brass casting and then the people of Ife taught the people of Benin about brass casting, then Benin's knowledge of brass casting derived from the Portuguese (even though it was not transferred directly from the Portuguese to Benin).

This would obviously hurt the argument. Choice (B) eliminates this possibility and thus strengthens the argument. Hang on to (B).

thx for expert's excellent explanation, but a thing still confused me. As this sentence in the stimulus "But Portuguese records of that expedition mention cast-brass jewelry sent to Benin’s king from neighboring Ife" seems to mean Portuguese came to Ife and buy the cast-brass jewelry then sent to Benin’s king, which means Portuguese had contacted with Ife in 1485. So isn't it contradict with choice B "The Portuguese had no contact with Ife until the 1500s." ?
Any one can shed some light? thx in advance
User avatar
GMATNinja
User avatar
GMAT Club Verbal Expert
Joined: 13 Aug 2009
Last visit: 27 Apr 2026
Posts: 7,391
Own Kudos:
70,821
 [1]
Given Kudos: 2,133
Status: GMAT/GRE/LSAT tutors
Location: United States (CO)
GMAT 1: 780 Q51 V46
GMAT 2: 800 Q51 V51
GRE 1: Q170 V170
GRE 2: Q170 V170
Products:
GMAT Club Tests
Expert
Expert reply
GMAT 2: 800 Q51 V51
GRE 1: Q170 V170
GRE 2: Q170 V170
Posts: 7,391
Kudos: 70,821
 [1]
Commemorative plaques cast from brass are a characteristic art form of 26 Nov 2021, 09:49
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Mavisdu1017

thx for expert's excellent explanation, but a thing still confused me. As this sentence in the stimulus "But Portuguese records of that expedition mention cast-brass jewelry sent to Benin’s king from neighboring Ife" seems to mean Portuguese came to Ife and buy the cast-brass jewelry then sent to Benin’s king, which means Portuguese had contacted with Ife in 1485. So isn't it contradict with choice B "The Portuguese had no contact with Ife until the 1500s." ?
Any one can shed some light? thx in advance
Show more
The passage doesn't say or imply that the Portuguese ever went to Ife.

The Portuguese went to Benin in 1485, and wrote records about that trip. In the records, they mention that Ife sent brass-cast jewelry to Benin's king. The Portugues weren't involved in the transaction at all -- they just noted in the records that Ife sent jewelry to Benin. They could make this observation this without ever setting foot in Ife.

So, the passage doesn't conflict with (B).

I hope that helps!
User avatar
jabhatta2
User avatar
Joined: 15 Dec 2016
Last visit: 21 Apr 2023
Posts: 1,251
Own Kudos:
328
Given Kudos: 188
Posts: 1,251
Kudos: 328
Commemorative plaques cast from brass are a characteristic art form of Updated on: 04 Feb 2022, 19:08
Originally posted by jabhatta2 on 04 Feb 2022, 12:30.
Last edited by jabhatta2 on 04 Feb 2022, 19:08, edited 1 time in total.
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
AbdurRakib
Commemorative plaques cast from brass are a characteristic art form of the Benin culture of West Africa. Some scholars, noting that the oldest surviving plaques date to the 1400s, hypothesize that brass-casting techniques were introduced by the Portuguese, who came to Benin in 1485 A.D. But Portuguese records of that expedition mention cast-brass jewelry sent to Benin’s king from neighboring Ife. So it is unlikely that Benin’s knowledge of brass casting derived from the Portuguese.

Show more
Hi KarishmaB
Just focussing on the stimulus, specifically the purple - do you get the sense THAT the cast-brass jewelry sent to Benin's king from Ife -- was sent
-- BEFORE 1485
-- During 1485 (At the exact same time of the expedition)
-- Both scenarios are possible but cant be determined. One should just assume, both scenario are possible

Just curious if one can figure that out ?
User avatar
jabhatta2
User avatar
Joined: 15 Dec 2016
Last visit: 21 Apr 2023
Posts: 1,251
Own Kudos:
328
Given Kudos: 188
Posts: 1,251
Kudos: 328
Commemorative plaques cast from brass are a characteristic art form of Updated on: 06 Feb 2022, 10:24
Originally posted by jabhatta2 on 04 Feb 2022, 13:28.
Last edited by jabhatta2 on 06 Feb 2022, 10:24, edited 1 time in total.
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Hi - Do you think these are "weakenesses". I know the argument is talking about 'strengths' but i think the strategy is eliminating weakenesses in order to strengthen. So i was just try to come up with weakenesses to the argument as an exercise so I can intuitively think of these next time

Quote:

(i) Records later than 1485 indicate that the portuguese first met the IFE in 1450. I think this is a weakeness but is too easy to spot on the GMAT

(ii) EARLIER records of Portuguese voyages to the Africa's have been lost

(iii) OTHER records indicate that the portuguese exported Commemorative plaques as a source of revenue. I think this is a weakener because perhaps Benins imported the plaques

(iv) Just because gifts from IFE were sent to the Benins, doenst mean the IFE's transferred knowledge of Brass casting to the Benins

(v) The French knew about Brass casting 50 years earlier compared to the Portuguese == I think this DOES NOT WEAKEN as its doesnt touch on the link between the premise and the conclusion specifically

Show more

Do you think these are all legitimate perhaps. Can you think of any other tougher weakeners perhaps ?
User avatar
ReedArnoldMPREP
User avatar
Manhattan Prep Instructor
Joined: 30 Apr 2021
Last visit: 03 Dec 2025
Posts: 521
Own Kudos:
547
Given Kudos: 37
GMAT 1: 760 Q49 V47
Expert
Expert reply
GMAT 1: 760 Q49 V47
Posts: 521
Kudos: 547
Commemorative plaques cast from brass are a characteristic art form of 04 Feb 2022, 15:37
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
jabhatta2
Hi ReedArnoldMPREP - Do you think these are "weakenesses". I know the argument is talking about 'strengths' but i think the strategy is eliminating weakenesses in order to strengthen. So i was just try to come up with weakenesses to the argument as an exercise so I can intuitively think of these next time

Quote:

(i) Records later than 1485 indicate that the portuguese first met the IFE in 1450. I think this is a weakeness but is too easy to spot on the GMAT

(ii) EARLIER records of Portuguese voyages to the Africa's have been lost

(iii) OTHER records indicate that the portuguese exported Commemorative plaques as a source of revenue. I think this is a weakener because perhaps Benins imported the plaques

(iv) Just because gifts from IFE were sent to the Benins, doenst mean the IFE's transferred knowledge of Brass casting to the Benins

(v) The French knew about Brass casting 50 years earlier compared to the Portuguese == I think this DOES NOT WEAKEN as its doesnt touch on the link between the premise and the conclusion specifically


Do you think these are all legitimate perhaps. Can you think of any other tougher weakeners perhaps ?
Show more

i is good (and is pretty much why B is the right answer).

ii I suppose this is a weakener, but this kind of thing isn't really what the GMAT is worried about. But it's a little too close to the realm of 'Actually our premises are just wrong!'

Don't see how iii weakens the argument. Seems like it might strengthen.

iv I suppose weakens.

v needs a little more info. I think I'd need more evidence that the French info. on brass casting lead to the Benins, directly or indirectly, not just that France had brass castings (I suppose it weakens in the gentlest little of nudges though).
avatar
PVOG
avatar
Joined: 18 May 2022
Last visit: 09 Nov 2022
Posts: 21
Own Kudos:
8
Given Kudos: 66
GMAT 1: 730 Q48 V42 (Online)
WE:Corporate Finance (Accounting)
GMAT 1: 730 Q48 V42 (Online)
Posts: 21
Kudos: 8
Commemorative plaques cast from brass are a characteristic art form of 26 May 2022, 05:27
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
GMATNinja
The author concludes that "it is unlikely that Benin’s knowledge of brass casting derived from the Portuguese." Since we need to strengthen the argument, let's make sure we understand the author's logic:

  • "Commemorative plaques cast from brass are a characteristic art form of the Benin culture of West Africa." - This background information tells us that cast-brass plaques are a typical form of art in Benin culture.
  • "The oldest surviving plaques date to the 1400s." - These plaques have been a part of Benin culture since at least the 1400s (maybe earlier).
  • "Some scholars hypothesize that brass-casting techniques were introduced by the Portuguese, who came to Benin in 1485 A.D." - How did the people of Benin learn brass-casting techniques? Perhaps from the Portuguese. This hypothesis is consistent with the date evidence (the earliest known plaques date to the 1400s, and the Portuguese came to Benin in the 1400s).
  • However, "Portuguese records of that expedition mention cast-brass jewelry sent to Benin’s king from neighboring Ife." - When the Portuguese first showed up, Benin already had cast-brass jewelry from Ife. This means that Benin had already been introduced to cast-brass prior to the arrival of the Portugal. This evidence seems to hurt the hypothesis of some scholars. The author thus concludes that Benin's knowledge of brass casting probably did not derive from (or "originate from") the Portuguese.

We need something that strengthens the author's argument (not the scholar's hypothesis):

Quote:
(A) The Portuguese records do not indicate whether their expedition of 1485 included metalworkers.
Notice that (A) does NOT say, "Portuguese records indicate that the expedition did not include metalworkers." (A) says that the records don't indicate either way. So perhaps the expedition included metalworkers and perhaps it did not. Although this leaves open the possibility that the expedition did not include metalworkers, the evidence in (A) is not very strong. Let's look for something better.

Quote:
(B) The Portuguese had no contact with Ife until the 1500s.
The evidence tells us that Benin had cast-brass objects from Ife before they encountered the Portuguese. This suggests that the people of Benin may have learned about cast-brass from Ife, not from the Portuguese.

But what if the people of Ife learned about brass casting from the Portuguese? In that case, any knowledge about brass casting transferred from Ife to Benin actually originated (or derived) from the Portuguese. In other words, if the Portuguese taught the people of Ife about brass casting and then the people of Ife taught the people of Benin about brass casting, then Benin's knowledge of brass casting derived from the Portuguese (even though it was not transferred directly from the Portuguese to Benin).

This would obviously hurt the argument. Choice (B) eliminates this possibility and thus strengthens the argument. Hang on to (B).

Quote:
(C) In the 1400s the Portuguese did not use cast brass for commemorative plaques.
All that matters is that the Portuguese knew how to cast brass. We don't care how the Portuguese used cast brass. Even if the Portuguese did not make cast brass commemorative plaques, they still could have taught the people of Benin how to cast brass. Thus, (C) does not strengthen the argument and can be eliminated.

Quote:
(D) As early as 1500 A.D., Benin artists were making brass plaques incorporating depictions of Europeans.
This statement doesn't tell us anything about the origin of the artists' knowledge of brass casting. This statement could be true whether their knowledge derived from the Portuguese or from the people of Ife. Thus, (D) can be eliminated.

Quote:
(E) Copper, which is required for making brass, can be found throughout Benin territory.
This simply tells us that Benin had one of the materials needed to make brass. As with (D), this doesn't tell us anything about the origin of the artists' knowledge of brass casting. Eliminate (E).

(B) is the best answer.
Show more


Hi GMATNinja, I got this question correct, but I took way too long on it (spent around 5 minutes on it) because I had to work from wrong to right. When I eventually did get it correct (via elimination), I still wasn't too happy with my understanding of why B was correct.

I understand that the question asks us to find a piece of info that makes it "unlikely" that Benin's knowledge derived from Portugal, but am I correct in saying that B does NOT bulletproof this? Is it not possible that Portugal taught another country, let's say Ghana, and then Ghana taught Ife, and then Ife taught Benin, in this case, even if B were true, then it is still the case that the knowledge derived from Portugal at the end of the day. Would you say that I overthought this and that thinking of this was not necessary?
User avatar
GMATNinja
User avatar
GMAT Club Verbal Expert
Joined: 13 Aug 2009
Last visit: 27 Apr 2026
Posts: 7,391
Own Kudos:
70,821
 [1]
Given Kudos: 2,133
Status: GMAT/GRE/LSAT tutors
Location: United States (CO)
GMAT 1: 780 Q51 V46
GMAT 2: 800 Q51 V51
GRE 1: Q170 V170
GRE 2: Q170 V170
Products:
GMAT Club Tests
Expert
Expert reply
GMAT 2: 800 Q51 V51
GRE 1: Q170 V170
GRE 2: Q170 V170
Posts: 7,391
Kudos: 70,821
 [1]
Commemorative plaques cast from brass are a characteristic art form of 03 Jun 2022, 08:07
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
PVOG

Hi GMATNinja, I got this question correct, but I took way too long on it (spent around 5 minutes on it) because I had to work from wrong to right. When I eventually did get it correct (via elimination), I still wasn't too happy with my understanding of why B was correct.

I understand that the question asks us to find a piece of info that makes it "unlikely" that Benin's knowledge derived from Portugal, but am I correct in saying that B does NOT bulletproof this? Is it not possible that Portugal taught another country, let's say Ghana, and then Ghana taught Ife, and then Ife taught Benin, in this case, even if B were true, then it is still the case that the knowledge derived from Portugal at the end of the day. Would you say that I overthought this and that thinking of this was not necessary?
Show more
We're asked to strengthen the argument, not to prove that the argument MUST be true.

You're right that (B) doesn't make the argument bulletproof -- and that's totally fine! On balance, (B) supports the argument that "it is unlikely that Benin’s knowledge of brass casting derived from the Portuguese," and that's enough for (B) to be the correct answer.

I hope that helps!
User avatar
Stanindaw
User avatar
Joined: 11 Dec 2020
Last visit: 18 Apr 2026
Posts: 127
Own Kudos:
55
Given Kudos: 73
Location: India
Concentration: Operations, Economics
Schools: Booth '26 Fuqua '27
GMAT Focus 1: 615 Q80 V80 DI77
GPA: 3.7
Products:
My Reviews
Schools: Booth '26 Fuqua '27
GMAT Focus 1: 615 Q80 V80 DI77
Posts: 127
Kudos: 55
Commemorative plaques cast from brass are a characteristic art form of 08 Feb 2023, 01:04
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
I ll highlight the sentence because of which i got this incorrect:
But Portuguese records of that expedition mention cast-brass jewelry sent to Benin’s king from neighboring Ife:

Can this sentence infer this too: The Portugese ordered that cast brass jewelry from Ife, and probably they took while on their way to africa or some body from Ife delivered when they reached there?
User avatar
VerbalBot
User avatar
Non-Human User
Joined: 01 Oct 2013
Last visit: 04 Jan 2021
Posts: 19,418
Own Kudos:
1,010
Posts: 19,418
Kudos: 1,010
Commemorative plaques cast from brass are a characteristic art form of 15 Mar 2026, 12:28
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Automated notice from GMAT Club VerbalBot:

A member just gave Kudos to this thread, showing it’s still useful. I’ve bumped it to the top so more people can benefit. Feel free to add your own questions or solutions.

This post was generated automatically.
   1   2 
Moderators:
GMATNinja
GMAT Club Verbal Expert
7391 posts
AbhishekP220108
507 posts
bhanu29
363 posts