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):


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.


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).


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.


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.


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.
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Premise:
1. Commemorative plaques cast from brass are a characteristic art form of the Benin culture of West Africa.
2. 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.
3. But Portuguese records of that expedition mention cast-brass jewelry sent to Benin’s king from neighboring Ife.

Conclusion: So it is unlikely that Benin’s knowledge of brass casting derived from the Portuguese.

Question Type : Strengthens, New information can be added.
Prephase: Benin’s knowledge of brass casting was not derived from the Portuguese. So look for answer choice that keep the Portuguese at bay with respect to Brass-casting

A. The Portuguese records do not indicate whether their expedition of 1485 included metalworkers. - A neutral ans. Does not strengthen -will keep if none other match.
B. The Portuguese had no contact with Ife until the 1500s. - Plaques date to the 1400s, Portuguese records of that expedition mention cast-brass jewelry sent to Benin’s king from neighboring Ife. but portuguese had no contact with Ife untill 1500s, hence Ife had their own set of skills of casting plaques.
C. In the 1400s the Portuguese did not use cast brass for commemorative plaques. - A good contender - But Protuguese did not use cast brass plaques does not mean they could not have shared the knowledge - Incorrect
D. As early as 1500 A.D., Benin artists were making brass plaques incorporating depictions of Europeans. - Benin artists may have used the knowledge acquired from portuguese to make the plaques.
E. Copper, which is required for making brass, can be found throughout Benin territory. - Not relevant to the subject.
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Hi,

Thank you for such a good explanation , however can you please elaborate more why A is incorrect. Are we not strengthening the argument by sayin that Portuguese did not even had metal workers when they came to Benin and isn't B little out of scope? Please help

Regards
Megha

Hi Sayantan , Can you please explain why C is wrong? i ws confused b/w B and C? C states that they did not use cast brass for commemorative plaques, which is required. So isnt it strenghthen that it cam from neighbour.?

The answer is B

Let's break it down logically: the claim is that since bronze casting came to Benin from the Ife, it did not derive from the Portuguese. This is true, if we assume that the Ice did not themselves get it from the Portuguese. Thus, the argument is great strengthened if it is true that (B) The Portuguese had no contact with Ife until the 1500s.


Another way to solve is by process of elimination:

(A) The Portuguese records do not indicate whether their expedition of 1485 included metalworkers. if they indicated that there were no metalworkers, this would indeed strengthen - but just not indicating doesn't help much


(C) In the 1400s the Portuguese did not use cast brass for commemorative plaques.if we knew they didn't cast brass at all this would strengthen, but merely that they didn't use it for this purpose doesn't mean that people in Benin didn't;t adopt it for this reason

(D) As early as 1500 A.D., Benin artists were making brass plaques incorporating depictions of Europeans. this weakens the argument somewhat, as it suggests a connection between brass plates and the Eurpoeans for people in Benin

(E) Copper, which is required for making brass, can be found throughout Benin territory. irrelevant - the question is where they learned the technique
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Hi GMATNinja

Thanks for the wonderful and detailed explanation. I have one doubt.

STIMULUS - But Portuguese records of that expedition mention cast-brass jewelry sent to Benin’s king from neighboring Ife.

Option B - The Portuguese had no contact with Ife until the 1500s.

Isn't this a contradiction - i.e. How could Portuguese sent cast-brass jewelry to Benin’s king from neighboring Ife in 1485 A.D. WITHOUT having no contact with Ife until the 1500s.

Kindly clarify!
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Argument:
Specific brass monuments found in Benin seem to be from the 1400s. Portuguese were there in 1485, so it could be they introduced these techniques. But, Portuguese records say Benin got these brass casting techniques from Ife. So, Benin did not get brass casting knowledge from Portuguese.

The argument does not seem to have any logical jumps. So, to strengthen this conclusion, think about possible objections to this argument and then we take scenarios that these objections don't exist. Possible objections:

What if the Portuguese records are incorrect? or, What if there were other historical records mentioning that Benin got these techniques from Portuguese before Ife sent them? ->No other records exist prior to these that show evidence that Portuguese shared brass making knowledge with Benin.(Assumption 1)

What if Ife learned these techniques from the Portuguese? In that case, the original source of knowledge would still be Portuguese. -> Ife did not learn brass casting techniques from Portuguese(Assumption 2)

We could look for strengtheners along the line of these assumptions.

(A) The Portuguese records do not indicate whether their expedition of 1485 included metalworkers. Including metalworkers or not gives us no information on whether the brass casting knowledge was shared.

(B) The Portuguese had no contact with Ife until the 1500s. This means Portuguese could not have transferred the brass casting knowledge to Ife before 1500. In line with Assumption 2

(C) In the 1400s the Portuguese did not use cast brass for commemorative plaques. This has no impact on the argument whether Benin got this knowledge from Portuguese. If the Portuguese did not build these fancy monuments, still they had the knowledge of brass casting techniques and could have transferred it to Benin.
(d)As early as 1500 A.D., Benin artists were making brass plaques incorporating depictions of Europeans. Again, no impact has this does not tell us about the source of knowledge. Just tells us what they used the knowledge for.
(e) Copper, which is required for making brass, can be found throughout Benin territory. Again, no impact has this does not tell us about the source of techniques.