The title page of a book printed in 1955 bears a handwritten quotation

Question

Which of the following most logically completes the argument?

The title page of a book printed in 1955 bears a handwritten quotation from an eleventh -century Anglo-Saxon treaty below which appears the date October 1956 and the name of the scholar Nelson Mb. Only two manuscripts of the treaty existed in 1956, and a printed version was not published until 1968. Although it is conceivable that Nelson saw one of the two manuscripts, it is more probable that the title-page inscription is a forgery, since __________.

A. Nelson Mb is known to have used several different styles in writing his signature

B. Nelson Mb died not long after the publication of the printed edition of the treaty

C. Nelson Mb was one of relatively few people who could still read Anglo-Saxon in the 1900s

D. the printed edition of the treaty was based on only one of the two manuscripts, the other having been known to very few scholars before 1968

E. the quotation follows exactly the spelling of the printed edition, which contains errors introduced by the printer.

BangOn · Answer

E for me.
If the printed version error is reproduced and is said to be of 1956....it is forgery

gmatbull · Answer

Hi please can you take some time to explain before arriving at the answer.
The passage talks about a book with an inscription on the title page; how does the 
error in the printed edition invalidate the authenticity of the book?

Thanks.

Archit143 · Answer

for·ger·y/ˈfôrjərē/
Noun: 
The action of forging or producing a copy of a document, signature, banknote, or work of art.
A forged or copied document, signature, banknote, or work of art.

What is forgery in the argument?
The inscription which is in written in Anglo saxon from 11th century. The argument mentions that author has got one of the two manuscripts.
Now we need to strengthen that inscription is a forgery.

When you look at C which mentions that author was one of the few people who knew how to read manuscript.
Though E is a also a strong contender which states spelling matches, but C strengthens more strongly than E.

Can you pls post the OA and OE also gmatbull your questions are quite good, can u pls mention the source for above question.

jlgdr · Answer

Well let me tell you I'm going in for (E) on this one. It is pretty self explanatory, but let's see.
If it contined the exactly same spelling errors as the printed version then it was to be a forgery right?

summer101 · Answer

This is a tough question. +1 gmatbull.

My take:
On a book printed in 1955, there is a handwritten Quote( from treaty) with date 1956 & name Nelson. 
Manuscript was not printed until 1968 and only 2 manuscripts were available before that
Chances are that Nelson saw this manuscript and wrote the quote himself sometime in 1956 but it looks like a forgery i.e Nelson did not write it in 1956 Since......

A. Nelson Mb is known to have used several different styles in writing his signature --> Nelson could have written it. No indication of forgery
B. Nelson Mb died not long after the publication of the printed edition of the treaty--> Nelson could have written it. As he might have had access to the manuscript. No indication of forgery
C. Nelson Mb was one of relatively few people who could still read Anglo-Saxon in the 1900s--> Nelson could have written it. As he knew how to read the manuscript. No indication of forgery
D. the printed edition of the treaty was based on only one of the two manuscripts, the other having 
been known to very few scholars before 1968--> Nelson could have written it. As he might have had access to the manuscript. No indication of forgery
E. the quotation follows exactly the spelling of the printed edition, which contains errors introduced by the printer. ---> The Quote had a spelling mistake same as that found in the printed edition. So that means the quote was written after 1968 and not 1956.This is an Indication of forgery

E IMO

Can,Will · Answer

can anyone help me with passage ? I am not able to comprehend the passage, what it tries to say

SuprotimRoy · Answer

Book was printed in  1955  
Handwritten quote from an  11th-century treaty  
Inscription dated  October 1956 , signed  Nelson Mb  
Only  two manuscripts existed in 1956  
Printed version came much later ( 1968 ) 
 
 So, for the inscription to be genuine, Nelson must have had  rare access to one of only two manuscripts one year earlier in 1955.

The title page of a book printed in 1955 bears a handwritten quotation

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GMAT Critical Reasoning (CR) Questions

The title page of a book printed in 1955 bears a handwritten quotation

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