In the territory of Zumba Woomba, archeologists discovered

Question

In the territory of Zumba Woomba, archeologists discovered what appear to be stone artifacts dating back 50,000 years. Analysis of the artifacts, which were discovered in a variety of locations, showed that they may have been chiseled with fragments of bone from local animals.

Which of the following, if true, would, together with the information above, provide the best basis for the claim that the stone artifacts are evidence of the use of bone fragments as tools by the ancient inhabitants of Zumba Woomba?

(A) Present-day inhabitants of Zumba Woomba often use bone tools to make folk artifacts.
(B) Certain types of stone are also hard enough to be used as chisels on the stone used to make the artifacts.
(C) Using patterns in the stone artifacts, archeologists have determined that some of them were cut out of the same large rock.
(D) Apart from the Zumba Woomba discovery, there is reliable evidence that humans used bone fragments as tools as many as 25,000 years ago.
(E) The stone artifacts were found in several distinct layers of earth that contained trash known to have been produced by the ancient inhabitants of Zumba Woomba.

IanStewart · Accepted Answer

I don't understand why prep companies produce questions like this. It's just an inferior copy of an official question, and not even a well-disguised one at that:

cr-swartkans-territory-19045.html

If a test-taker has seen the official question (and if you're prepping for GMAT Verbal, you should see as many official questions as possible, since they're vastly superior to anything else), I don't see what benefit he or she gets from attempting an almost exact replica. I've been noticing many questions like this one recently, from more than one prep company, and I just hope no one is paying money for this stuff.

gmat1220 · Answer

I think you can rule out A,B and C. lets compare D and E

D - is not right in terms of the age. Since we are talking about 50,000 years back, the evidence should allude to that time period

E - is alluding that the dust or trash found in the fragments belongs to the inhabitants. So the theory that dust is from chiseled artifacts is probably true.

Hence E.

heygirl · Answer

The best answer is E.

conclusion - stone artifacts are evidence of the use of bone fragments as tools by the ancient inhabitants of Zumba Woomba?

(A) Present-day inhabitants of Zumba Woomba often use bone tools to make folk artifacts. we are concerned with ancient inhabitants 
(B) Certain types of stone are also hard enough to be used as chisels on the stone used to make the artifacts. not relevant to conclusion 
(C) Using patterns in the stone artifacts, archeologists have determined that some of them were cut out of the same large rock. we are not concerned with the way the artifacts are cut out 
(D) Apart from the Zumba Woomba discovery, there is reliable evidence that humans used bone fragments as tools as many as 25,000 years ago. there is no mention is the passage about relationships between Zumba Woomba and humans 
(E) The stone artifacts were found in several distinct layers of earth that contained trash known to have been produced by the ancient inhabitants of Zumba Woomba. best answer. supports the conclusion by saying that stone artifacts were found in trash that was produced by ancients Zumba Woomba inhabitants.

tyagigar · Answer

does the colclusion says "bone were u used as tools or does it says"zulu used the tools"
in either case how does e helps .......confused

jlgdr · Answer

Agree with you Ian, and worst thing is that they don't even try to change the order nor the form of answer choices! Its ridiculous!! Cheers! J

semwal · Answer

THIS QUESTION IS SIMILAR TO AN OFFICIAL QUESTION-

WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE ......if compared to the official question ..is to link some physical evidence that correlates those inmates/ material used to create the artifacts with the artifacts....thereby create some evidence link....making the argument authentic though to whatever feeble degree.....

HERE "E" DOES THAT....HENCE CORRECT ANSWER....

gauravkaushik8591 · Answer

How does E prove that 'the stone artifacts are evidence of the use of bone fragments as tools '? I mean sure the artifacts are found in the trash dating back to the same time, but how does that prove the usage of BONE as a tool?

AmoyV · Answer

@gauravkaushik8591 : Just because the stone artifacts were found in Zoomba Woomba and dated back to 50,000 years, doesnt mean that the remains were stone artifacts made by ancient inhabitants of ZW. E bridges this gap and makes it more likely that it was the *ancient inhabitants* of ZW who made these stone artifacts.

Bowtye · Answer

I am still with gauravkaushik8591 on this one. I have a pretty good record with CR but this one isn't sitting right with me. I agree with your statement "makes it more likely that it was the *ancient inhabitants* of ZW who made these stone artifacts" but the passage doesn't imply that ancient inhabitants of ZW are known for using bone tools. For all I know, the stone artifacts were found in a layer of trash, and therefore creating a link between the stone artifact and the ancient ZW ancestors, but the carvings on the artifacts could have been created by another piece of stone. The part of the question gauravkaushik859 and I are getting stuck on is "... are  evidence of the use of bone fragments as tools  by the ancient inhabitants of Zumba Woomba?" To me, E doesn't provide that information.

May be I have to look at it through the lens of "showed that they  may have been chiseled  with fragments of bone from local animals" implies that they (the stone artifacts) were carved using a bone and the passage doesn't provide information about the stone artifact being connected to ZW ancestors. In this case, E would provide that link; however, if that is the case, then the question stem, IMO, should read:

"Which of the following, if true, would, together with the information above, provide the best basis for the claim that the stone artifacts are evidence  that ancient inhabitants of Zumba Woomba  may have used bone fragments  as tools? "

When looking at the question in the link that Ian Stewart provided, E was the clear answer there IMO.

gmatkiller666 · Answer

This is a such a poor replication of an official question. Sometimes I wonder if questions like these do more harm than good.

ClassSkippa · Answer

This is a abominable question. Trash is way too general. There isn't enough linkage between E and the actual argument. When we talk about trash in everyday sense, do we think of DUST produced by stone-working!?? As many mentioned, this is a horrible replication of a question.

vishwathols · Answer

I completely agree. Why? the question stem asks about the strengthening elements for the claim that bone fragments were used to chisel
but the correct answer only stregnthens that the community made the stone artifacts but has no clue whether they were made by stone or bone chisels

In the territory of Zumba Woomba, archeologists discovered

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In the territory of Zumba Woomba, archeologists discovered

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