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555-605 (Medium)|   Assumption|   Complete the Passage|                  
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AnthonyRitz
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Sviatovin is a medieval Moringian text whose author and exact date of 20 Sep 2022, 10:32
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jabhatta2


If (B-variant) was given, then we cant say if the book was written AFTER 1165 specifically
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At the very minimum, can't we say that the book wasn't written before 1165, since the book describes events that "occurred in 1165"? I mean, unless the author was psychic, or has specific foreknowledge, or wrote about events and then caused those events -- theoretically possible, but totally unfounded in the argument -- the description had to come after the events being described.
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Sviatovin is a medieval Moringian text whose author and exact date of 20 Sep 2022, 11:01
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jabhatta2
Who is proscribing the year 1165?

Is the text itself proscribing that the events (described in the text) OCCURED in 1165
OR
Is the text just describing events. Then we historians LATER ON are MAPPING those events to the year 1165 ?

Who is doing this 'proscribing' of 1165 ?

Can we say or we can't say ?

I thought it was the LATTER (based on SC logic)
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Yes, jabhatta2, it's the latter. But, as AnthonyRitz explained, it's irrelevant. I mean, how would you react if you found a text that appears to have been written in 1910, that describes in detail the events of World War II? The text itself doesn't say that these events took place in 1939-1945, but we all know that they did. Wouldn't you question how a 1910 text could possibly describe events that hadn't yet happened? Does it really matter whether the text itself mentions the years 1939-1945?

Take another look at the beginning of the argument:
Quote:
Sviatovin is a medieval Moringian text whose author and exact date of composition are unknown. However, the events in the life of Prince Sviatov that the text describes occurred in 1165
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What was your reaction, when you took a pause at that point? Did you not infer that the text must have been written no earlier than the year 1165? If not, that was your first mistake.
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Sviatovin is a medieval Moringian text whose author and exact date of 21 Sep 2022, 05:53
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Hi avigutman AnthonyRitz - thank you so much for your inputs.

What both of you said in the posts just above make sense. - the book was definitely written AFTER 1165 (that cannot be disputable) - I did not make that inference. I understand the logic for this now

The only thing questionable is : was the text written PRIOR to 1167

While we are only left with (c) so we have to pick (c) -- however, would you agree on these inputs on (C) ?

-- Traditionally most GMAT assumptions are necessary assumptions. (C) seems to go over-board

Here is why :

(C) is is suggesting two things

(i) mom / dad / brother / sisters /grandmom / grand-dad / grand-mom / great grand mom / great grand-father / children / wives / cousins = EVERYONE IS ALL listed accurately.
(ii) LIVING / Deceased STATUS of EACH ONE is listed accurately as well.

(C) is suggesting both the above bullet points.

However, I think only DAD and the living /deceased status of DAD specifically is necessary for this argument.

If mom / brother / sister /grandmom .... is listed incorrectly and THE LIVING STATUS of mom / brother / sister / grandmom is listed in-accurately as well --- it doesnt hurt the argument.

Thoughts ?
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Sviatovin is a medieval Moringian text whose author and exact date of Updated on: 21 Sep 2022, 10:57
Originally posted by avigutman on 21 Sep 2022, 09:33.
Last edited by avigutman on 21 Sep 2022, 10:57, edited 1 time in total.
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jabhatta2
Would you agree on these inputs on (C) ?

-- Traditionally most GMAT assumptions are necessary assumptions. (C) seems to go over-board
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If you conclude that the text was written no later than 1167, and your only evidence is a diagram, then, yeah, your argument requires that the diagram be accurate.
It's true that we only need one little part of the diagram to be accurate, jabhatta2, but the answer choices aren't granular enough so as to question the accuracy of each part of the diagram separately.
Negation test: if we find out that the diagram does NOT accurately represent the composition of Sviatov's family at the time Sviatovin was written, then the entire logic behind the conclusion (that the text was written no later than 1167) crumbles.
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Sviatovin is a medieval Moringian text whose author and exact date of 21 Sep 2022, 09:59
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jabhatta2
Hi avigutman AnthonyRitz - thank you so much for your inputs.

What both of you said in the posts just above make sense. - the book was definitely written AFTER 1165 (that cannot be disputable) - I did not make that inference. I understand the logic for this now

The only thing questionable is : was the text written PRIOR to 1167

While we are only left with (c) so we have to pick (c) -- however, would you agree on these inputs on (C) ?

-- Traditionally most GMAT assumptions are necessary assumptions. (C) seems to go over-board

Here is why :

(C) is is suggesting two things

(i) mom / dad / brother / sisters /grandmom / grand-dad / grand-mom / great grand mom / great grand-father / children / wives / cousins = EVERYONE IS ALL listed accurately.
(ii) LIVING / Deceased STATUS of EACH ONE is listed accurately as well.

(C) is suggesting both the above bullet points.

However, I think only DAD and the living /deceased status of DAD specifically is necessary for this argument.

If mom / brother / sister /grandmom .... is listed incorrectly and THE LIVING STATUS of mom / brother / sister / grandmom is listed in-accurately as well --- it doesnt hurt the argument.

Thoughts ?
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Yeah I'm not convinced that this is the typical necessary assumption question, but even if it was, imagine negating C:

Quote:
the diagram DOES NOT accurately represent[] the composition of Sviatov's family at the time Sviatovin was written
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Then I'd say the family tree showing the father alive gives no reason whatsoever to assume that Sviatov's father was actually alive when the book was written. And therefore the conclusion is, if not wrong, at least without any basis in the argument. I'd consider that a good enough basis to pick this answer.
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Sviatovin is a medieval Moringian text whose author and exact date of 10 Oct 2022, 04:23
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''in the diagram of Sviatov's family that accompanies the text his father, who died in 1167, is identified as still living''

isn't this a premise and we are doubting the premise in C]?
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Sviatovin is a medieval Moringian text whose author and exact date of 10 Oct 2022, 07:27
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himanshu0123
''in the diagram of Sviatov's family that accompanies the text his father, who died in 1167, is identified as still living''

isn't this a premise and we are doubting the premise in C]?
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Ah, no, actually, I don't question that at all.

It is undeniably true that "in the diagram... his father... is identified as living" (emphasis added). I don't question what the diagram shows. I question whether the diagram is accurate. These sorts of fine distinctions are the bread and butter of GMAT critical reasoning, so it's important to practice picking out the little wiggle words like "identified" that create such gaps!
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Sviatovin is a medieval Moringian text whose author and exact date of 20 May 2023, 12:42
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The argument in the passage relies on the assumption that:

(C) the diagram accurately represents the composition of Sviatov's family at the time Sviatovin was written.

The argument assumes that the diagram accompanying the text accurately reflects the family composition during the period when Sviatovin was written. If this assumption is false and the diagram is inaccurate or represents a different time period, then the conclusion drawn about the time of Sviatovin's composition would be invalid. Therefore, establishing the accuracy of the diagram is crucial for determining the timeframe of Sviatovin's writing based on the information provided.
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Sviatovin is a medieval Moringian text whose author and exact date of 31 May 2025, 04:51
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I think option B is incorrect because of the word used here as possible, in my reasoning if author explicited as much correct information as possible means author may used the events correctly but can choose random dates, so B is not must be true
please help me experts to understand this
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Sviatovin is a medieval Moringian text whose author and exact date of 01 Jun 2025, 21:31
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The answer here is not (B) though the word 'possible' doesn't have much role to play.

the author of Sviatovin intended it to provide as accurate a report about Prince Sviatov's exploits as possible

The argument is all about the diagram and his father shown in it. There are no question marks on the reports on Sviatovin's exploits. So (B) is irrelevant.
Also, "as accurate as possible" only means using as much information as the author could find. When we write about a person's life, only the person himself knows the whole truth. We can write about the publicly known facts and whatever the person tells us. So we can write it as accurately as possible if we duplicate the known facts honestly. We may not be able to write more accurately than that.

Here is why (C) is correct: https://gmatclub.com/forum/sviatovin-is ... l#p1158743


mansijha786
I think option B is incorrect because of the word used here as possible, in my reasoning if author explicited as much correct information as possible means author may used the events correctly but can choose random dates, so B is not must be true
please help me experts to understand this
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Sviatovin is a medieval Moringian text whose author and exact date of 25 Dec 2025, 19:43
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The passage says that in the family diagram Sviatov???s father is ???identified as still living.??? Why, then, does the argument still need to assume that the diagram represents the family as it existed at the time Sviatovin was written? If the diagram labels the father as alive, and the text even includes material attributed to him, does that not already imply that the text was written before his death?
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Sviatovin is a medieval Moringian text whose author and exact date of 25 Dec 2025, 20:14
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My few words -

Sviatovin is a medieval Moringian text whose author and exact date of composition are unknown. However, the events in the life of Prince Sviatov that the text describes occurred in 1165, and in the diagram of Sviatov's family that accompanies the text his father, who died in 1167, is identified as still living. Thus Sviatovin must have been written between 1165 and 1167, assuming that _____________ .

The key point is that being identified as living does not by itself fix the end time of writing.

Even though Sviatov’s father is identified as still living in the diagram, the text could still have been written much later, for example in 1200. The diagram could simply be describing the family as it existed during the events being narrated (around 1165), when the father was indeed alive, even if the author wrote the text decades afterward. In that case, the father would correctly appear as living, but the text would not have been written before 1167.

Therefore, to conclude that Sviatovin must have been written between 1165 and 1167, we need an assumption that rules out the possibility that the diagram reflects an earlier historical moment rather than the time of writing. In other words, we need an assumption that the text was not written after 1167.

This is why choices B and C may initially seem close, but only one actually does the needed logical work.

Choice (B) says that the author intended to provide as accurate a report as possible about Prince Sviatov’s exploits. However, “exploits” refers to the actions, campaigns, routes taken, or strategies used by the prince. Accuracy about exploits has nothing to do with dating the text. The author could be perfectly accurate about events and still write long after 1167. This option does not constrain the timeline at all.

Choice (C) says that the diagram accurately represents the composition of Sviatov’s family at the time Sviatovin was written. The word “accurately” by itself is not the key issue. The crucial phrase is “at the time Sviatovin was written.” This assumption directly links the diagram to the time of writing. Once that link is established, the fact that the father is shown as alive means the text must have been written before his death in 1167. That is exactly what the conclusion requires.
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Sviatovin is a medieval Moringian text whose author and exact date of 21 Jul 2026, 23:15
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This one is not an assumption question. At least not in the regular sense.

Let’s understand the format a bit more. There’s a blank in the end. We need to find an answer choice that when fit into the blank makes the whole passage make sense. More specifically, the correct answer should satisfy the following condition:
If I assume this answer choice, then indeed Sviatovin must have been written between 1165 and 1167. That’s the check that the correct answer choice needs to satisfy.

I’ll ask the following question with each answer choice: if I accept the answer choice as true, then can I infer that Sviatovin must have been written between 1165 and 1167?

If I can, that makes the answer choice correct. There is room for comparison here. 4 answer choices will not lead me to make that inference. 1 answer choice will. That one will be the correct answer.


Let’s look at the options.

Option A: If I assume that the life of Prince Sviatov is not the subject of any other medieval Moringian texts, then can I say with certainty that Sviatovin must have been written between 1165 and 1167?

The answer is no, I cannot.


Option B: If I assume that the author of Sviatovin intended it to provide as accurate as a report about the prince’s exploits as possible, then can I infer that the text must have been written between the mentioned two years?

The answer is no, again. The author’s intentions do not even help me date the text, let alone infer the date.

What the intentions of the author were, anyway don’t tell me about what actually happened in the text. The intentions might’ve been to be accurate, yet the text could’ve been actually inaccurate. Their intentions might have been to be inaccurate or they might not have cared about accuracy, yet the text could’ve been accurate.


Option C: if I assume that the diagram accurately represents the composition of the family at the time the text was written, then can I infer that the text must have been written between 1165 and 1167?
Yes, I can. If in the diagram, the father is identified as still living and we now learn that the diagram was accurate for that time then indeed the father would have been living at that time and therefore the text would have been written before the father died (in 1167, we’re given in the passage).

We know from the passage already that the text would’ve been written in 1165 or after because it describes events that occurred in 1165. So, unless the author had the ability to see into the future, the text couldn’t have been written before the events occurred.


Realize if we were looking for an assumption for the argument, then is answer choice C a necessary assumption? No it’s not. For the text to have been written between 1165 and 1167 based on the evidence, the thing required about the diagram is that within the family composition. The father was depicted accurately at the time the text was written. In other words, if they state that the father was living, then actually the father would have been living at that time and that mention wasn’t wrong - at the time. Other things in the family composition could still be inaccurate. Even then they could make the conclusion that the text was written between 1165 and 1167. In this case the option is correct because we’re not looking for a necessary assumption. We are looking for something that is sufficient to make the claim that the text must have been written within the mentioned time period.

Option D:If Sviatovin is indeed the earliest Moringian text whose composition can be dated to within a few years, then can we infer that the text must’ve been written in that time period?

No.

Sure, it was the earliest text whose composition could have been dated to within a few years, but what were those few years, what were the pieces of evidence that could help date the composition? We don’t know these things. The correct answer choice should allow us to infer that the text must have been written between 1165 and 1167. This answer choice doesn’t enable that.


Option E: if the text was not written by the prince’s father, even then I don’t learn anything about when it was written. I do not get any further clue about when the text was written, let alone my being able to inferred it. This answer choice is incorrect also.



‘Additional notes:

This is a very interesting question in that prima facie it looks like an assumption question. It even has the word ‘assuming’ in there.

However, it is not a Problem Solving kind of a question in which, even if you don’t look at the answer choices you can figure out the correct answer, and then go mark your answer among the answer choices. This is a fill in the blank question. The only thing that the correct answer needs to satisfy is if I plug it into the blank then the whole story should make sense. There could very well be other statements also that if plugged in could make the whole story makes sense. However, out of the given five answer choices only one answer choice will do this. So I’m not going to try to figure out an assumption on my own and then go look for that assumption in the answer choices. I’m also not going to check whether each answer choice can be assumed or not in other words. So, no negation.
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Sviatovin is a medieval Moringian text whose author and exact date of 28 Jul 2026, 20:30
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CONCLUSION: Sviatovin must have been written between 1165 and 1167.

LINE OF REASONING:
Lower Bound (1165): The text references 1165 events, so it wasn't written before 1165.
Upper Bound (1167): The diagram shows the father alive, and he died in 1167, so it wasn't written after 1167.

STRUCTURAL FLAW / REASONING GAP: The author assumes that the diagram's depiction of the father being alive is a faithful reflection of the family's status at the exact moment of composition, rather than an outdated template, an error, or a historical retro-drawing.

PRE-PHASED PARAPHRASE: The diagram must accurately depict who was alive in Sviatov's family at the exact time the manuscript was created.

OPTION ANALYSIS:
(A) Incorrect. Out of scope. Other texts about Sviatov do not alter the internal dating clues of this manuscript.
(B) Incorrect. Intent regarding the accuracy of Sviatov's historical exploits does not guarantee that the family tree diagram was drawn in real time.
(C) Correct. This directly matches our pre-phased concept. It guarantees that the diagram's state (father alive) mirrors the real-world state at the time of writing. (Negation: If the diagram does NOT accurately reflect the family at the time of writing, the author could have drawn a deceased father as alive in 1175, destroying the claim that it was written before 1167).
(D) Incorrect. Whether this text is the earliest dated Moringian document has no bearing on whether the 1165–1167 timeframe is logically sound.
(E) Incorrect. The identity of the author (father vs. someone else) is irrelevant to the timeline logic established by the date of death.
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