Bunuel
Which of the following best completes the passage below?
Some anthropologists theorize that no great city-state has ever been conquered without first being rife with internal conflict. Recently, evidence has been discovered that a great city-state, known as Archaic C, was sacked and occupied by a rival city-state in the first millennium BC. Therefore, if the anthropologists’ theory is correct, we can say that_______.
(A) after Archaic C was sacked and occupied, internal divisions remained in the region.
(B) no internal divisions ever existed in Archaic C.
(C) Archaic C was not truly a great city-state.
(D) Archaic C suffered from internal conflict at some point in the first millennium BC or earlier.
(E) Archaic C was not the first great city-state to be conquered by outside forces.
Veritas Prep Official Explanation
Solution: D
This is an Inference question, as demonstrated by the phrase, “Therefore, if… we can say that…” (The word, “therefore” is a massive conclusion tag.) The problem assumes the truthfulness of the anthropologists’ theory, and then asks us to come up with a conclusion, based off of the existing evidence. The theory tells us that, prior to being conquered, great city-states exhibit internal conflict. Evidence exists that Archaic C was “sacked and occupied” in the first millennium BC. The terminology change here is an attempt by the Testmaker to hide the linkage between the theory and Archaic C. “Sacked and occupied” is, for all practical purposes, virtually synonymous with “conquered.” While historians might argue subtle semantic differences between “sacked and occupied” and “conquered”, both terms imply a military domination from an external force. The possible linkage provides us with a great jumping-off point. Once we see this linkage, we could even anticipate a potential conclusion: since we know that Archaic C was conquered, the anthropologists’ theory tells us that Archaic C must have exhibited internal strife prior to its downfall.
Answer choice “A” concludes something about what happens after Archaic C fell, but this fails the “no new information” filter – the anthropologists’ theory only tells us what happens in a city before it is conquered, not after. Answer choice “A” may or may not be true.
Answer choice “B” expressly contradicts what we know – the theory implies Archaic C must have had internal divisions. Naturally, conclusions cannot contradict the evidence.
Answer choice “C” also contradicts something that we were given in the problem. The body of the question explicitly states that Archaic C was a “great city-state” and gives us no criteria for evaluating whether a city-state could be “truly great”. “C” contradicts the evidence.
Answer choice “D” matches our anticipated conclusion: since we know that Archaic C was conquered, the anthropologists’ theory tells us that Archaic C must have exhibited internal strife prior to its downfall. “D” appears to be a strong answer.
Answer choice “E” contains new information with no justification in the original statement. Whether Archaic C was the first great city-state to be conquered is outside the scope of the question. We only know it was conquered, not when it was conquered in relation to other city-states meeting similar fates. Therefore, we cannot make a conclusion about something we don’t have information on. Answer choice “A” fails the “no new information” filter.