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655-705 (Hard)|   Strengthen|                        
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The spacing of the four holes on a fragment of a bone flute excavated 23 Apr 2021, 14:34
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avigutman
You correctly identified the following weakness in the hypothesis: just because the bone fragment was excavated at a Neanderthal campsite does not necessarily mean that it was made by Neanderthals to be used as a musical instrument.
You are also correct that answer choice A takes care of that weakness, as it implies that bone flutes were indeed made by Neanderthals to be used as a musical instrument.
However, the emphasis of this answer choice is on the word "only" - and the fact that no other musical instruments were made by Neanderthals does not strengthen the hypothesis at all.
This emphasis makes answer choice A much less likely to be the correct answer choice. I would only pick it if the other four answer choices are worse - a very unlikely scenario.
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Hi avigutman - thank you for following up.

I think there are 3 main assumptions in the argument
Assumption 1 # Just because the bone is excavated at a Neanderthal campsite, we are assuming it was an instrument built by Neanderthals (some one may have planted it for all we know)
Assumption 2 # Just because this fragment plays note 3 through note 6 of the diatonic scale , we are assuming it is part of the 7 diatonic tone (maybe it was part of a fragment of another instrument altogether, not related to the diatonic musical scale to begin with)
Assumption 3 # Just because this fragment plays note 3 through note 6 and the fragments turn out is indeed part of the 7 note diatonic scale, we are assuming Neanderthals played it (maybe Neanderthals never actually played the instrument even after inventing it (like Google Smart Glasses - invented by google but never used)) [/b]

Q1) Were you sure which assumption was going to be strengthened when doing the question ?

I was not sure and my mind was confused which the GMAT would focus upon specifically.

Q2) I think what you are saying is option A with the word "ONLY" does strengthen assumption # 1 but not assumption # 3 correct ?
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The spacing of the four holes on a fragment of a bone flute excavated 24 Apr 2021, 10:25
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Hi avigutman - thank you for following up.

I think there are 3 main assumptions in the argument
Assumption 1 # Just because the bone is excavated at a Neanderthal campsite, we are assuming it was an instrument built by Neanderthals (some one may have planted it for all we know)
Assumption 2 # Just because this fragment plays note 3 through note 6 of the diatonic scale , we are assuming it is part of the 7 diatonic tone (maybe it was part of a fragment of another instrument altogether, not related to the diatonic musical scale to begin with)
Assumption 3 # Just because this fragment plays note 3 through note 6 and the fragments turn out is indeed part of the 7 note diatonic scale, we are assuming Neanderthals played it (maybe Neanderthals never actually played the instrument even after inventing it (like Google Smart Glasses - invented by google but never used)) [/b]

Q1) Were you sure which assumption was going to be strengthened when doing the question ?

I was not sure and my mind was confused which the GMAT would focus upon specifically.
Show more

No, I wasn't sure which assumption would be strengthened in the correct answer. In fact, it's dangerous to go into the answer choices feeling confident about what the correct answer choice will say. You should only feel confident about what the correct answer choice will do (in this case, support the hypothesis), but not about what the correct answer choice will say.


Quote:
Q2) I think what you are saying is option A with the word "ONLY" does strengthen assumption # 1 but not assumption # 3 correct ?
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Yes, correct.
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The spacing of the four holes on a fragment of a bone flute excavated 10 Sep 2021, 07:58
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Hi Verbal Experts,
Need some explanation on this question...

Here's mine - IMO E states that complete bone could be used to play complete diatonic scale-from 1st to 7th notes, by the Neanderthal BUT it doesn't state explicitly that diatonic musical scale was developed and used thousands of years before it was adopted by Western musicians.

Whereas B says that the flute found at the Neanderthal campsite is the first musical instrument to have used a diatonic scale. Hence, it clearly supports the conclusion that diatonic musical scale was developed and used thousands of years before it was adopted by Western musicians. But not sure why B is discarded and E is the OA...!!

Please share your detail analysis on the basis of these two options - B & E.

Hi bagdmba,

Thank you for your query.

In this question we are asked to find a new piece of information that will support the musicologists hypothesis that :

• diatonic musical scale was developed and used thousands of years before it was adopted by Western musicians

The basis for the above theory:

• The spacing of the four holes on a fragment of a bone flute excavated at a Neanderthal campsite is just what is required to play the third through sixth notes of the diatonic scale

What is a diatonic scale:

• the seven-note musical scale used in much of Western music since the Renaissance.

Now any piece of information that will solidify the connection between this bone flute fragment and the diatonic scale will be the right choice for supporting the proposed hypothesis.

Answer choice B says:

(B) No musical instrument that is known to have used a diatonic scale is of an earlier date than the flute found at the Neanderthal campsite.

The information given above effectively means that there is no known record of a musical instrument that was diatonic and that pre-dates the bone flute. Now is the hypothesis proposed by the musicologists concerned with proving that the found flute fragment was part of the first ever diatonic instrument? The answer is a big NO! It does not matter whether there was any instrument before the bone flute that could play the diatonic scale. All we need to establish is that the whole flute (whose fragment has been found) itself was diatonic. The information given in answer choice B does not help in doing so.

Whereas choice E says:

(E) The cave-bear leg bone used to make the Neanderthal flute would have been long enough to make a flute capable of playing a complete diatonic scale.

Now, this choice rightly solidifies the connection between the diatonic scale and the bone flute. Please note that in the prompt, we are told that the four holes could play third through the sixth note but the diatonic scale has seven notes. This means, if we factor in the information given in answer choice E, we can establish that the fragment of the bone flute found was could have been part of a longer flute which could have played all the seven notes of the diatonic scale. Hence, choice E is the correct answer.

Hope the above analysis helps!

Neeti.
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Hi! I used the pre-thinking approach of e-gmat to get to the right answer! Had I not pre-thought then I would have straight fallen into trap option B. Kudos
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The spacing of the four holes on a fragment of a bone flute excavated 26 Nov 2021, 09:22
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(E) The cave-bear leg bone used to make the Neanderthal flute would have been long enough to make a flute capable of playing a complete diatonic scale.
Based on the evidence, we know that the bone flute could have been used to play four of the notes in the diatonic scale. But does that necessarily mean it was used to play the ENTIRE diatonic scale? Maybe it was only used to play 4 or 5 notes? In that case, the full diatonic scale may not have been developed and used until thousands of years later.

Choice (E) does not PROVE that the flute had all 7 notes. However, (E) gives us evidence that the flute could have easily been long enough to play a full diatonic scale. Sure, the Neanderthals may not have used the full length of the leg bone for the instrument. However, with choice (E), we are now better off than we were given the information in the passage.

(E) definitely supports the hypothesis and is the best option.
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hey GMATNinja
I have a problem with E
it doesn't tell us whether it was found thousands of years before.
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The spacing of the four holes on a fragment of a bone flute excavated 04 Dec 2021, 16:05
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GMATNinja


Quote:
(E) The cave-bear leg bone used to make the Neanderthal flute would have been long enough to make a flute capable of playing a complete diatonic scale.
Based on the evidence, we know that the bone flute could have been used to play four of the notes in the diatonic scale. But does that necessarily mean it was used to play the ENTIRE diatonic scale? Maybe it was only used to play 4 or 5 notes? In that case, the full diatonic scale may not have been developed and used until thousands of years later.

Choice (E) does not PROVE that the flute had all 7 notes. However, (E) gives us evidence that the flute could have easily been long enough to play a full diatonic scale. Sure, the Neanderthals may not have used the full length of the leg bone for the instrument. However, with choice (E), we are now better off than we were given the information in the passage.

(E) definitely supports the hypothesis and is the best option.

hey GMATNinja
I have a problem with E
it doesn't tell us whether it was found thousands of years before.
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It doesn't particularly matter when the flute was found. We know that it was excavated at a Neanderthal campsite, but the argument doesn't specify when that excavation took place. Knowing that information wouldn't really impact the argument that the diatonic scale was in use thousands of years before the Renaissance.

If you're talking about when the flute was made, then sure! You've identified a small gap in the argument. The author fails to PROVE that the flute excavated at the Neaderthal site is thousands of years old. So, it would strengthen the argument to fill in that gap.

Unfortunately, there are tons of similar gaps that you could think of, and there's absolutely no guarantee that the correct answer choice addresses your particular concern. For example, I could say that the author fails to demonstrate that animals didn't chew the holes in the bone. There's another gap that (E) doesn't address!

So, thinking of how you would strengthen the argument before looking at the answer choices isn't necessarily the best way to go through a CR question. Instead, just evaluate the options in front of you. (E) strengthens the argument, even if it doesn't exactly fill the hole that you've found in the passage. That's enough to make to make (E) the correct answer.

I hope that helps!
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The spacing of the four holes on a fragment of a bone flute excavated 05 Apr 2022, 17:55
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Thanks GMATNinja for your rich explanation!

Answer E specifies that the bone was created out of "cave-bear leg".

This info (1) doesn't appear in the original text (2) doesn't contribute to E's essential argument.

This was a clear signal for me that E is not the right choice. Why is this reasoning wrong?

Posted from my mobile device
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The spacing of the four holes on a fragment of a bone flute excavated 15 Apr 2022, 13:00
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gmater2358
Thanks GMATNinja for your rich explanation!

Answer E specifies that the bone was created out of "cave-bear leg".

This info (1) doesn't appear in the original text (2) doesn't contribute to E's essential argument.

This was a clear signal for me that E is not the right choice. Why is this reasoning wrong?

Posted from my mobile device
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Information that supports a hypothesis doesn't need to appear in the original passage. It just needs to increase the likelihood that the hypothesis is true. In fact, outside information can very often strengthen a hypothesis.

So does (E) strengthen our hypothesis?

Well, if the cave-bear leg bone were too short, it may not have been able to contain the full diatonic scale. Since (E) confirms that the bone was "long enough to make a flute capable of playing a complete diatonic scale," it supports the idea that the bone was used to play this scale. This in turn supports the hypothesis that the diatonic scale was developed thousands of years ago, since the bone fragment was found at a Neanderthal campsite.

Put another way: although the current fragment is too short to play the diatonic scale, (E) says that the original bone was long enough to play the full diatonic scale. This supports the idea that the scale was developed thousands of years ago, when the bone flute was likely made. Since (E) supports the hypothesis, it's correct.

I hope that helps!
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The spacing of the four holes on a fragment of a bone flute excavated 11 Mar 2023, 07:18
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GMATNinja how are we showing that it was created 1000 year ago? @experts


GMATNinja
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Thanks GMATNinja for your rich explanation!

Answer E specifies that the bone was created out of "cave-bear leg".

This info (1) doesn't appear in the original text (2) doesn't contribute to E's essential argument.

This was a clear signal for me that E is not the right choice. Why is this reasoning wrong?

Posted from my mobile device
Information that supports a hypothesis doesn't need to appear in the original passage. It just needs to increase the likelihood that the hypothesis is true. In fact, outside information can very often strengthen a hypothesis.

So does (E) strengthen our hypothesis?

Well, if the cave-bear leg bone were too short, it may not have been able to contain the full diatonic scale. Since (E) confirms that the bone was "long enough to make a flute capable of playing a complete diatonic scale," it supports the idea that the bone was used to play this scale. This in turn supports the hypothesis that the diatonic scale was developed thousands of years ago, since the bone fragment was found at a Neanderthal campsite.

Put another way: although the current fragment is too short to play the diatonic scale, (E) says that the original bone was long enough to play the full diatonic scale. This supports the idea that the scale was developed thousands of years ago, when the bone flute was likely made. Since (E) supports the hypothesis, it's correct.

I hope that helps!
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The spacing of the four holes on a fragment of a bone flute excavated 12 Mar 2023, 05:43
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avigutman Can you please explain why B is wrong though I read the above discussion but I am still not crystal clear why that is wrong ?
According to B the bone is the first known musical instrument to use diatonic scale hence it proves the conclusion. The way B is written -before the flute, there was no instrument that used diatonic scale- seems to state that the flute was the instrument "that used diatonic scale".

Other than my sister there was nooone that i could count on- implies i could count on my sister. I ve used same logic for above interpretation. egmat GMATNinja GMATGuruNY
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The spacing of the four holes on a fragment of a bone flute excavated 12 Mar 2023, 08:49
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Elite097
avigutman Can you please explain why B is wrong though I read the above discussion but I am still not crystal clear why that is wrong ?
According to B the bone is the first known musical instrument to use diatonic scale hence it proves the conclusion. The way B is written -before the flute, there was no instrument that used diatonic scale- seems to state that the flute was the instrument "that used diatonic scale".

Other than my sister there was no-one that i could count on- implies i could count on my sister. I used same logic for above interpretation
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The implication that I highlighted in the quote is incorrect, Elite097.
Here's (B):
Quote:
No musical instrument that is known to have used a diatonic scale is of an earlier date than the flute found at the Neanderthal campsite.
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This is a comparison of dates: we have the date of the fragment of a bone flute. We are told that prior to that date there's no evidence of something. That's all (B) says.
Your analogy about your sister is not analogous. That sentence is about who you can or cannot count on - it's not a comparison of dates.
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The spacing of the four holes on a fragment of a bone flute excavated 03 Apr 2023, 13:08
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how are we showing that it was created 1000 year ago? @‌experts
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The fragment of the flute was found at a Neanderthal campsite. Neanderthals haven't been around for a few thousand years. So, presumably, if the Neanderthals were using this flute to play music in the diatonic scale, then this scale has been around for a few thousand years, right?

That's what (E) is giving us evidence for. If this Neanderthal-built flute were long enough to play the diatonic scale, it increases the likelihood that the Neanderthals were, in fact, playing this scale. If the Neanderthals, who haven't been around for thousands of years, were playing this scale, it means the scale is thousands of years old. Simple as that.

I hope that clears things up!
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The spacing of the four holes on a fragment of a bone flute excavated 05 Apr 2023, 06:24
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I had a particularly hard time with this question, so I made a crude visual aid. "Fragment of a bone flute" is easy to miss.

(If anyone were interested, the real thing is called the Divje Babe flute).
Attachments

bone.png
bone.png [ 10.07 KiB | Viewed 1744 times ]

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The spacing of the four holes on a fragment of a bone flute excavated 05 Oct 2023, 01:31
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Answer choice B raises significant confusion. At the time of making this post, 23% of people had selected B as their answer. The main confusion seems to stem from what the statement even means. I'll try to address that in this post.

A common interpretation is:

The flute that was found at the neanderthal campsite site is the oldest musical instrument that is known to have used a diatonic scale.

This interpretation is wrong.


To explain, let me start with a simplistic example.

Say there are 10 animals standing in front of us.

We know that 9 of them are dogs. We don’t know yet what the species of the 10th animal is.

If I now tell you that:

None of the 9 dogs is older than the 10th animal.

Does that make the 10th animal a dog?
Does that mean that the 10th animal is the oldest DOG among the 10?

No.

It just means that the 10th animal is the oldest among the 10 animals. We still don’t learn the species of the animal.


Another example:

No musical instrument is older than that yellow stick.

Can we infer that the yellow stick is a musical instrument?
No.

The yellow stick is older than all musical instruments. But we learn nothing about whether it is a musical instrument or not.



The same way,

Answer choice B just tells us that no musical instrument (of a particular kind) is older than the flute that was found at the campsite.

That means that the found flute is older than any 'musical instrument that is known to have used a diatonic scale'.
However, it doesn't imply that the found flute is the oldest 'musical instrument that used a diatonic scale'.
In fact, it doesn’t even imply that the found flute is a 'musical instrument that used a diatonic scale'.
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The spacing of the four holes on a fragment of a bone flute excavated 14 Dec 2023, 11:31
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One reason for the confusion between (B) and (E) could be that people incorrectly paraphrased the passage (just as I did). It never mentions that the bone is sufficient to play the diatonic scale. The argument only suggests that the bone might be likely to play it as it could play some parts of it.

If the argument had stated that the bone could completely play the diatonic scale, then (B) would have served as a strengthener.

Hope this helps someone.
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The spacing of the four holes on a fragment of a bone flute excavated 24 Dec 2024, 03:05
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A bone flute excavated at Neanderthal campsite had 4 holes perfectly spaced to play 3-6 notes of modern day diatonic scale

Hence,
The scale was developed before the westerners found it.

(A) Bone flutes were probably the only musical instrument made by Neanderthals.
Okay but how we can establish on the diatonic scale being before westerners - what if the 4 dots were just a fluke?

(B) No musical instrument that is known to have used a diatonic scale is of an earlier date than the flute found at the Neanderthal campsite.
No instrument which could play the scale is of a previous date than this flute. This just confirms lets say flute is 2 million yrs ago dated - no instrument more than 2 yrs old can play the D scale. But we cannot jump and say HEY THAT MUST BE FLUTE WAS USED TO PLAY D SCALE! It is just a cognitive bias to fill the gap. Remember, Our only proof is 4 holes - what if the 4 dots were just a fluke without knowledge of D scale or using the scale?

(C) The flute was made from a cave-bear bone and the campsite at which the flute fragment was excavated was in a cave that also contained skeletal remains of cave bears.
Ok great we know the material of bone? How does that help to prove our conclusion?

(D) Flutes are the simplest wind instrument that can be constructed to allow playing a diatonic scale.
Ok great. So?

(E) The cave-bear leg bone used to make the Neanderthal flute would have been long enough to make a flute capable of playing a complete diatonic scale.­
If the bone was small enough and could not have used to make all holes - we couldnt be sure that the 7 notes which make up the D scale would even be possible hence shaking the conclusion.
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The spacing of the four holes on a fragment of a bone flute excavated at a Neanderthal campsite is just what is required to play the third through sixth notes of the diatonic scale—the seven-note musical scale used in much of Western music since the Renaissance. Musicologists therefore hypothesize that the diatonic musical scale was developed and used thousands of years before it was adopted by Western musicians.

Which of the following, if true, most strongly supports the hypothesis?

(A) Bone flutes were probably the only musical instrument made by Neanderthals.

(B) No musical instrument that is known to have used a diatonic scale is of an earlier date than the flute found at the Neanderthal campsite.

(C) The flute was made from a cave-bear bone and the campsite at which the flute fragment was excavated was in a cave that also contained skeletal remains of cave bears.

(D) Flutes are the simplest wind instrument that can be constructed to allow playing a diatonic scale.

(E) The cave-bear leg bone used to make the Neanderthal flute would have been long enough to make a flute capable of playing a complete diatonic scale.­
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The spacing of the four holes on a fragment of a bone flute excavated 13 Mar 2026, 07:59
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This is gold! Keyword "Fragment of a bone flute" so only part of the flute was excavated so if it were true that the bone of the bear was long enough then it could explain the missing 3 notes amazing.
srijay007
I think its E
Evidence: fragement of bone flute can play 3rd to 6th notes
Concl: all notes of the scale could be played during that time (which is 1000s of yrs ago)

Concl will be true only if we assume that the missing fragments of flute bone could play the other missing notes
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