Archaeologists believe a group of ancient tombs near the seaside town

Question

Archaeologists believe a group of ancient tombs near the seaside town of Absuir, Egypt is home to the burial of the queen Cleopatra VII and her lover Mark Antony in the year 30 B.C. They base their judgment on the site's proximity to Alexandria and on the discovery of a partial mask showing a cleft chin reminiscent of Mark Antony, which, as is customary with burials of Egyptian rulers, would have been included with or near the mummified body at the time of the burial. Furthermore, _______________.

A) miraculously, additional fragments of mask that were found scores of miles away in Cairo fit perfectly with the partial mask excavated at Abusir, together constituting a nearly perfect facial likeness of Mark Antony

B) Mark Antony is the only ruler in Egypt to have had the shape of cleft chin expressed on the partial mask, which always capture the facial features of the buried ruler accurately

C) a statue of two lovers in embrace, presumably the two rulers, was found near the partial mask and dated to the year 40 A.D.

D) it has been established beyond a doubt that Cleopatra and Mark Antony were not buried to the south of the country in the Valley of the Kings, which is by far the best-known set of tombs in Egypt

E) valuable coins inscribed with a faded woman's likeness that might be Cleopatra's were also discovered blanketing the partial mask

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Shwarma · Answer

Option E

Furthermore,
So additional premise to strengthen the argument is needed
Most of them are strengthened the other premise, not the argument 
Thus E is the answer

tgsankar10 · Answer

The discovery of partial mask is reason to believe Absuir, Egypt is home to the burial of the queen Cleopatra VII and Mark Antony. The missing statement should support or give additional detail about this information.

A:  NO.  Additional parts of mask were found miles away. Not supporting the present information

B:  Correct.  This ascertains that the partial mask found could belong only to Mark.

C:  NO.  Information about two statues of different time. Not relevant
D:  NO.  No information about the masks and also no clear indication of burial site.
E:  NO.  Info about new evidence. Faded coins gives it away. Not certain that it is Cleopatra.

Answer is B

captain0612 · Answer

IMO Choice B

Conclusion - Archaologist's belief that Abusir, Egypt is home to the burial of the queen Cleopatra VII and her lover Mark Antony in the year 30 B.C
Evidence 1 - Site's proximity to Alexandria
Evidence 2 - Discovery of a partial mask showing a cleft chin reminiscent of Mark Antony

Question type - Complete the Passage.
Focus on the word  Furthermore , Author wants to provide additional information/ evidence to support the conclusion (or) stregthen the reasoning by supporting the evidence

A) miraculously, additional fragments of mask that were found scores of miles away in Cairo fit perfectly with the partial mask excavated at Abusir, together constituting a nearly perfect facial likeness of Mark Antony  The fact that the fragements of the remaining of the mask is elsewhere throws some doubt on the burial site of Mark Antony, suggesting that Abusir maynot be the burial site.  Incorrect

B) Mark Antony is the only ruler in Egypt to have had the shape of cleft chin expressed on the partial mask, which always capture the facial features of the buried ruler accurately   Correct  This choice supports the reasoning by strengthening Evidence 2. The partial mask found at the Abusir burial site belongs to Mark Antony.

C) a statue of two lovers in embrace, presumably the two rulers, was found near the partial mask and dated to the year 40 A.D.  We do not the connection between the statue and the rulers (Cleopatra VII and her lover Mark Antony). The statue could be placed at the burial site as a rememberance way later.  Incorrect

D) it has been established beyond a doubt that Cleopatra and Mark Antony were not buried to the south of the country in the Valley of the Kings, which is by far the best-known set of tombs in Egypt  We are concerned whether the burial belong to the rulers, and not the placement or the place where they are not buried. This choice is not helping us strengthen the concclusion/ reasoning  Incorrect

E) valuable coins inscribed with a faded woman's likeness that might be Cleopatra's were also discovered blanketing the partial mask  Again, similar to choice C, the relation between the coins and the rulers is unknown. For instance these coins could be popular way later  Incorrect

Bunuel · Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION:

Reading the question: We have a passage to complete logically. As with all logical continuation questions, it will be especially important to predict the correct answer. We see the word "furthermore" before the blank. That could introduce either additional evidence or an additional conclusion, but upon inspection, we see that it's introducing further evidence because it comes after the sentence, "They base their judgment on..." Meanwhile, the conclusion is the first sentence. So the blank will include either a new piece of evidence that Mark Antony was buried in this location, or a refinement or additional detail about the piece of information we already have--the partial mask. Most people would prefer the former possibility, but we would actually prefer the latter, what you could call "a mask evidence strengthener." We look for a mask evidence strengthener in the answer choices.

Applying the filter: Choice (A) is a mask evidence weakener, because it undermines the idea that we've nailed the mask to one location. So (A) doesn't pass the filter. Choice (B) is a mask evidence strengthener, so (B) passes the filter. (C) is a new piece of information and it's dated incorrectly anyway, so (C) is out. (D) is better than (C); it's not a mask strengthener, but rather a new piece of information. (E) is similar to (D); a new piece of evidence, not a mask strengthener. We're left at this point with (B), (D), and (E).

While Choices (D) and (E) lend strength to the argument, choice (B) is the most logical continuation of the passage. Choice (B) strengthens the main connection of the argument, which is between the mask and the rulers' burial location. And (B) is even so specific to say that masks "always capture the facial features of the buried ruler accurately," touching on a matter of supreme importance to the argument. Choice (D) is somewhat redundant, because the prompt has already indicated that a northern location is more likely, due to its proximity to Alexandria. Choice (E), unlike (B), doesn't strengthen the quality of the evidence that is the mask, and instead "piles on" new evidence of unclear merit: "faded coins."

The correct answer is (B).

Archaeologists believe a group of ancient tombs near the seaside town

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Archaeologists believe a group of ancient tombs near the seaside town

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