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Difficulty:
75%
(hard)
Question Stats:
67% (01:57) correct
33%
(02:33)
wrong
based on 268
sessions
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In a recently excavated administrative archive unearthed beneath Haraza’s main city complex, researchers found dozens of tax records written in a highly specialized legal shorthand. Linguists note that during the period when the archive was produced, this shorthand was neither taught nor used in Haraza’s region, though it was common in several distant port cities. Further, the Haraza records employ the same abbreviations and sentence patterns found in tax records from those port cities. The researchers therefore conclude that the Haraza archive was most likely produced by scribes who came to Haraza from outside the region.
Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?
(A) Some of the goods listed in the Haraza tax records were also traded through the distant port cities.
(B) The port cities’ tax systems were administered by officials who had more training than Haraza’s officials did.
(C) Haraza’s local government typically preferred to preserve local writing customs in official records.
(D) The Haraza archive contains no explicit statement identifying where the scribes were trained.
(E) The Haraza tax records were written in Haraza rather than brought in from elsewhere.
Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?
(A) Some of the goods listed in the Haraza tax records were also traded through the distant port cities.
(B) The port cities’ tax systems were administered by officials who had more training than Haraza’s officials did.
(C) Haraza’s local government typically preferred to preserve local writing customs in official records.
(D) The Haraza archive contains no explicit statement identifying where the scribes were trained.
(E) The Haraza tax records were written in Haraza rather than brought in from elsewhere.
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18 Dec 2025, 10:00
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GMAT Club Official Explanation:
The researchers conclude that the Haraza archive was produced by scribes who came to Haraza from outside the region. Their evidence is that the legal shorthand in the records was not taught or used locally during that period, and that the records closely match port-city records in uncommon abbreviations and sentence patterns.
To move from “the writing style is foreign” to “foreign scribes traveled to Haraza,” the argument must assume that the records were actually written in Haraza. If instead the records had been written in the port cities and later transported to Haraza, the evidence would still be true, but the conclusion about traveling scribes would not follow.
(A) Incorrect. Even if some goods overlap with port-city trade, that fact does not determine who wrote the records. The argument is about the scribes’ origin, not the goods taxed.
(B) Incorrect. Differences in administrative training between regions are irrelevant to whether the Haraza records were produced by traveling scribes. The argument rests on writing style and local nonuse, not on relative competence.
(C) Incorrect. A local preference for preserving writing customs is not required. Even if Haraza’s officials were open to foreign styles, the argument could still claim that outsiders produced the records.
(D) Incorrect. The absence of a training statement does not matter to the logic of the argument. The conclusion is inferred from stylistic and linguistic evidence, not from whether training is documented or not document (note that this just states that training is documented, yet does not state where). However, even if the documents did state that the scribes were trained locally or in one of the distant port cities, that still would not help us establish if these scribes were locals who were doing a form of an ancient "study-abroad" and came back with the new linguistic skills or if these were workers on an ancient "H1B work permit" working in Haraza or if they trained locally from a foreigner. Following this route creates many holes in the argument and requires additional assumptions. The researches concluded that these individuals were foreigners and for that conclusion to hold, their training location is not a required assumption.
(E) Correct. If the records were brought in from elsewhere, then they could have been written by port-city scribes without anyone traveling to Haraza. The argument therefore depends on the assumption that the records were written locally in Haraza, making outside scribes’ presence there the best explanation.
General Discussion
18 Dec 2025, 09:16
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The arguement concludes that the scribs came from outside Haraza because the records use a shorthand not taught or used locally. This only makes sense if the records were actually written by Haraza and arguement assumes the records were written locally
A. Trade overlap does not affects who wrote the record
B. Relative training levels are irrelevent
C. Local preference for writing customs is not required for the conclusion to hold
D. Lack of explicit statement about training does not affect the inference about scribes origin
A. Trade overlap does not affects who wrote the record
B. Relative training levels are irrelevent
C. Local preference for writing customs is not required for the conclusion to hold
D. Lack of explicit statement about training does not affect the inference about scribes origin
