Most scholars agree that King Alfred (A.D 849 - 899) personally

Question

Most scholars agree that King Alfred (A.D 849 - 899) personally translated a number of Latin texts into Old English. One historian contends that Alfred also personally penned his own law code, arguing that the numerous differences between the language of the law code and Alfred's translation of Latin texts are outweighed by the even more numerous similarities. Linguistic similarities, however, are what one expects in texts from the same language, the same time, and the same region. Apart from Alfred's surviving translation and law code, there are only two other extant works from the same dialect and milieu, so it is risky to assume here that linguistic similarities point to common authorship.

The passage above proceeds by

(A) Providing examples that underscore another argument's conclusion.

(B) questioning the plausibility of an assumption on which another argument depends.

(c) showing that a principle if generally applied would have anomalous consequences.

(D) showing that the premises of another argument are mutually inconsistent.

(E) using argument by analogy to undermine a principle implicit in another argument.

ID: 500111

EugeneFish · Accepted Answer

Scholars' assumption :   Alfred personally penned his own law code.
 Reasoning that assumption is based upon :   Many similarities between the law code that Alfred wrote and Alfred's translation of Latin texts.
 Conclusion by the author of the stem :  ] It is risky to assume that linguistic similarities point to common authorship.
 Evidence supporting the conclusion :   Apart from Alfred's surviving translation and law code, there are only two other extant works from the same dialect and milieu.

Basically,  Author's conclusion  questions the validity of  Scholars' assumption .

(A) Providing examples that underscore another argument's conclusion.
 It's the other way around. Argument's conclusion underscores provided examples.

(B) questioning the plausibility of an assumption on which another argument depends.
 Correct. Author questions the validity / plausibility of the assumption.

(c) showing that a principle if generally applied would have anomalous consequences.
 Author does not discuss any consequences, only says that the assumption is risky.

(D) showing that the premises of another argument are mutually inconsistent.
 Premises are consistent.

(E) using argument by analogy to undermine a principle implicit in another argument.
 Author does not use any analogies.

KarishmaB · Answer

Our Author: Most agree that King Alfred translated a number of Latin texts into Old English.

One historian: Alfred penned his own law code. Numerous differences between the language of the law code and Alfred's translation of Latin texts are outweighed by the even more numerous similarities. 
His assumption is that if similarities of two works outweigh differences, same person wrote both works.

Our Author: Linguistic similarities are what one expects in texts from the same language, the same time, and the same region. There are only two other extant works from the same dialect and milieu, so it is risky to assume here that linguistic similarities point to common authorship.
The author is saying that similarities could be explained by other things - same lang, same time, same region etc. So author may not be same. So he is questioning the assumption of the historian.

Hence (B) is correct. The author is questioning the plausibility of an assumption on which the argument of the historian depends.

kannu44 · Answer

questioning the plausibility of an assumption on which another argument depends.

Not able to understand . Can expert give some idea here.

thanks

GMATNinjaTwo · Answer

One historian says that the linguistic similarities between the law code and Alfred's translations outweigh the differences. The historian thus concludes that Alfred wrote that law code. The underlying assumption in that argument is that if you compare the work of a known author (Work A) to the work of an unknown author (Work B) and the linguistic similarities between those works outweigh the differences, then Work B was most likely also written by the author of Work A. The author of this passage then states, "Linguistic similarities, however, are what one expects in texts from the same language, the same time, and the same region." In other words, the similarities can be explained by other factors (shared language/time/region), not only by shared authorship. Furthermore, because there are only two other extant works, we do not have enough evidence to rule out the possibility that the similarities are due to shared language/time/region rather than shared authorship. Thus, as indicated in choice B, the author of the passage questions the plausibility of the historian's argument.

ramsahoo · Answer

I also answer opted for (c) for the exactly same reason explained above. should I assume the OA is wrong?

GMATNinjaTwo · Answer

My previous post explains why choice (B) is correct, but I made a typo and wrote "C". I have corrected the mistake... thanks for checking!

As for choice (C), although generalizing the assumption made by the historian might have "anomalous consequences", the author does not describe any such consequences in the passage. Thus, choice (C) does not accurately describe how the author proceeds.

Choice (B) is the correct answer.

abhimahna · Answer

Understand the argument clearly first.

The Scholars said King did some work X. Historian said King also did some work Y. On what basis? He said differences are fewer compared to similarities.

Author said: However: Similarities require alot of conditions but many of those conditions were not met by Mr King. He met only a few conditions.

Conclusion: "it is risky to assume here that linguistic similarities point to common authorship."

That means Author is trying to say " Dude, don't be so sure about what you are saying. There are some other possibilities.

Let's discuss the options now:

The passage above proceeds by

(A) Providing examples that underscore another argument's conclusion. -->  Author is not underscoring anything. Author is asking to expand your scope and consider other possibilities.

(B) questioning the plausibility of an assumption on which another argument depends. -->  Yeah, Here we go. Author is expanding the scope by providing another possibility.

(c) showing that a principle if generally applied would have anomalous consequences. -->  Nooo.. He never said so. Author is still not sure about what he said. He just said consider other possibilities

(D) showing that the premises of another argument are mutually inconsistent. -->  Same as A.

(E) using argument by analogy to undermine a principle implicit in another argument. -->  Again, he is not undermining anything. Notice the word "risky"

Does that make sense?

GMATNinjaTwo · Answer

abhimahna , great explanation!

Yes, linguistic similarities alone are not enough to safely assume that two works were written by the same author. If both works were written in the same language, at the same time, and in the same region, we would expect the works to have linguistic similarities, even if they were written by different authors.

CAMANISHPARMAR · Answer

Official Answer:

Argument Evaluation

Situation  A historian argues that King Alfred must have written his own law code, since there are more similarities than differences between the language in the law code and that in Alfred's translations of Latin texts. Apart from Alfred's translations and law code, there are only two other extant works in the same dialect and from the same milieu.

Reasoning  How does the reasoning in the passage proceed? The first sentence presents a claim that is not disputed in the passage. The second sentence presents a historian's argument. Implicitly citing the undisputed claim in the passage's first sentence as evidence, the historian proposes an analogy between the law code and Alfred's translations, arguing on the basis of this analogy that Alfred wrote the law code. The third sentence of the passage casts doubt on this analogy, pointing out that it could plausibly apply to texts that Alfred did not write. The fourth sentence suggests that too few extant texts are available as evidence to rule out the possibility raised in the third sentence. Thus, the third and fourth sentences are intended to undermine the historian's argument.

Option B is Correct. The passage's third and fourth sentences question the plausibility of the historian's assumption that no one but Alfred would have been likely to write a text whose language has more similarities to than differences from the language in Alfred's translations.

Why are A, C, D & E incorrect:-

A - As explained above, the passage is intended to undermine the conclusion of the historian's argument, not to underscore (emphasize) it.

C - Although there might well be anomalous consequences from generalizing the assumption on which the historian's argument relies, the passage does not mention or allude to any such consequences.

D - The passage does not mention, or suggest the existence of, any inconsistencies among the premises of the historian's argument.

E - Although the historian argues by analogy, the passage does not itself argue by analogy; it does not suggest any specific counteranalogy to undermine the historian's argument.

jabhatta2 · Answer

Hi  GMATGuruNY  - just curious, how would you solve a problem like this ?

Here was my breakup of the role per sentence 
Green: Fact 
Brown: Counter premise 
Grey : Premise
Blue : Premise 
Purple : Conclusion.

But then I was not sure how to proceed.

Most scholars agree that King Alfred (A.D 849 - 899) personally translated a number of Latin texts into Old English .  One historian contends that Alfred also personally penned his own law code, arguing that the numerous differences between the language of the law code and Alfred's translation of Latin texts are outweighed by the even more numerous similarities .  Linguistic similarities, however, are what one expects in texts from the same language, the same time, and the same region .  Apart from Alfred's surviving translation and law code, there are only two other extant works from the same dialect and milieu,   so it is risky to assume here that linguistic similarities point to common authorship.

GMATGuruNY · Answer

Premise of the scholar:
 The numerous differences between the language of the law code and Alfred's translation of Latin texts are outweighed by the even more numerous similarities. 
Conclusion of the scholar:
 Alfred penned the law code.

According to the passage, what is the flaw in the scholar's argument?
 It is risky to assume here that linguistic similarities point to common authorship .

Option B describes this flaw:
The passage proceeds by questioning an assumption ( linguistic similarities point here to common authorship ) on which another argument ( the scholar's argument ) depends.

B

jabhatta2 · Answer

Hi  GMATGuruNY  - isn't C right as well ?

If the principle {a.k.a assumption that -  linguistic similarities point to common authorship )} is applied generally -- it leads to incorrect results (like the results that  Alfred personally penned his own law code )

That's why I selected C.

GMATGuruNY · Answer

C:  The passage proceeds by showing that a principle if generally applied would have anomalous consequences.

No principle is applied GENERALLY.
The last line of the passage:
 It is risky to assume HERE that linguistic similarities point to common authorship. 
The usage of  here  constrains the dispute to A SINGLE CASE: authorship of the law code.
Further, the passage does not discuss any consequences.
Thus, C does not accurately describe how the passage proceeds.

Please note that  a principle  is not  an assumption .
My dictionary defines a  principle  as follows:
 a fundamental truth that serves as the foundation for a chain of reasoning 
Thus:
 a principle  = a statement that is accepted as true
 an assumption  = a statement that is required by a conclusion but that might NOT be true

jabhatta2 · Answer

Hi  GMATGuruNY  - just curious when you read the passage - which statement is the so called   principle  being discussed in option C ?

Between the three contenders (per my view) - I think principle 2 makes the most sense for the principle being discussed in option C. 
 
Contenders for Principles  
 Principle 1) Most scholars agree that King Alfred (A.D 849 - 899) personally translated a number of Latin texts into Old English.  
 Principle 2) Linguistic similarities, however, are what one expects in texts from the same language, the same time, and the same region. 
 Principle 3) Apart from Alfred's surviving translation and law code, there are only two other extant works from the same dialect and milieu....

Thoughts ?

GMATGuruNY · Answer

None of the statements in the passage constitutes a principle:
1) MOST scholars agree --> some scholars disagree --> not a principle
2) what one EXPECTS --> the expectation might not come true --> not a principle
3) only TWO other extant works --> two = number --> not a principle but a statistic

BansalT · Answer

I was not able to understand the question clearly. I thought it is asking what will come next in the passage. So in these type of ques. we just analyze what exactly author wants to convey and choose ans. accordingly, right?

chetan2u · Answer

If it were to mean ‘what will come next?’, it would be ‘the para/argument will proceed further by

‘The para proceeds by’ would mean the layout of the argument, how the para carries itself forward. So, yes you will have to analyse the para accordingly

GGGMAT2 · Answer

GMATNinja

The historian contends that the king personally penned his own law code, and gives reason - " arguing that the numerous differences between the language of the law code and Alfred's translation of Latin  texts are outweighed by the even more numerous similarities . "

His reasoning is not an assumption (which by definition is an unstated premise). I eliminated option B, because the historian's reasoning is explicitly mentioned in the argument and is not an assumption.

Kindly share your thoughts on this. Thanks!

GMATNinja · Answer

There is an unstated premise behind that logic:  IF  the linguistic similarities of two works are outweighed by the differences, then the two works were written by the same author.

The author of the passage specifically questions that assumption in the last sentence: "it is risky to  assume  here that linguistic similarities point to common authorship."

I hope that helps!

Most scholars agree that King Alfred (A.D 849 - 899) personally

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GMAT Critical Reasoning (CR) Questions

Most scholars agree that King Alfred (A.D 849 - 899) personally

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