Historians have been struggling for centuries to find the exact

Question

Historians have been struggling for centuries to find the exact location where Santa Maria, the ship on which Christopher Columbus set sail from Spain in August 1492, looking for a westward route to Asia, capsized on its way back to Europe. A maritime archaeological investigator claims that a newly-discovered ship abandoned near the coast of South Haiti possesses artifacts that belonged to the Santa Maria, as noted in Columbus's extensive detailed diaries.

The force of the evidence cited above would be most strengthened if which of the following is true?

A. Ocean currents in the Atlantic are strong enough to shift an entire ship from one place to another.

B. The last few entries in Columbus's extensively detailed diaries noted a solar eclipse which astronomers confirmed was visible from Haiti in the year that Santa Maria drowned.

C. The port of South Haiti was known for its maritime importance during the fifteenth century.

D. Ships such as Santa Maria were custom built and possessed artifacts that were uniquely made for them.

E. Santa Maria had three smaller ships onboard it as does the newly-discovered ship abandoned near the coast of South Haiti

winterschool · Answer

D support that there are no chances that the abandoned ship is not santa maria, because it has unique artifacts

ASRV · Answer

While B is tempting, D is more accurate in my opinion.

wadhwakaran · Answer

Premise: Historians have been struggling to find exact location of Santa Maria (the ship)

Conclusion: A maritime archaeological investigator claims that a newly-discovered ship abandoned near the coast of South Haiti possesses artifacts that belonged to the Santa Maria  meaning thereby that the Coast of South Haiti is the place/location where the Santa Maria was capsized .

Aim: Strengthen

A. Ocean currents in the Atlantic are strong enough to shift an entire ship from one place to another.  Weakens the conclusion as it means the Santa Maria was capsized somewhere else but due to ocean currents it shifted to Haiti.

B. The last few entries in Columbus's extensively detailed diaries noted a solar eclipse which astronomers confirmed was visible from Haiti in the year that Santa Maria drowned. Can be or Cannot be because the option says the solar eclipse was visible from Haiti  but not visible from Haiti only.

C. The port of South Haiti was known for its maritime importance during the fifteenth century.  Irrelevant to the conclusion

D. Ships such as Santa Maria were custom built and possessed artifacts that were uniquely made for them.  Correct as it also talks about the artifacts on the basis of which the conclusion is drawn in the argument.

E. Santa Maria had three smaller ships onboard it as does the newly-discovered ship abandoned near the coast of South Haiti  Again could be or could not be as the Santa Maria was not the only ship which had three smaller ships onboard.

Bunuel · Answer

Experts' Global Video Explanation:

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Gemmie · Answer

Option D provides the most concrete evidence to bolster the claim that the discovered ship is indeed the Santa Maria.

+ Unique artifacts:  If ships like the Santa Maria had custom-built artifacts, it's more likely that the artifacts found on the discovered ship are exclusive to the Santa Maria. This strengthens the connection between the two.

+ Specificity:  This option provides a specific detail that directly supports the main claim.

Why other options are weaker:

+ Options A, C, E:  These options provide general information about the ship or its surroundings but don't directly link the discovered ship to the Santa Maria.

+ Option B:  While interesting, the solar eclipse information doesn't directly connect the artifacts or the ship to the Santa Maria. It situates Columbus in the area but does not provide conclusive evidence about the ownership of the artifacts

VerbalBot · Answer

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Historians have been struggling for centuries to find the exact

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