Sviatovin is a medieval Moringian text whose author and exact date of composition are unknown. However, the events in the...
GMAT Critical Reasoning : (CR) Questions
Sviatovin is a medieval Moringian text whose author and exact date of composition are unknown. However, the events in the life of Prince Sviatov that the text describes occurred in 1165, and in the diagram of Sviatov's family that accompanies the text his father, who died in 1167, is identified as still living.
Thus Sviatovin must have been written between 1165 and 1167, assuming that ______________.
Passage Analysis:
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
| Sviatovin is a medieval Moringian text whose author and exact date of composition are unknown. |
|
| However, the events in the life of Prince Sviatov that the text describes occurred in 1165 |
|
| and in the diagram of Sviatov's family that accompanies the text his father, who died in 1167, is identified as still living |
|
Argument Flow:
"The passage starts by telling us what we don't know about this text (author and date), then gives us two key pieces of evidence with specific dates. The events described happened in 1165, and the text shows the father as alive even though he died in 1167. These two dates create boundaries for when the text could have been written."
Main Conclusion:
"Sviatovin must have been written between 1165 and 1167 (assuming something unspecified)"
Logical Structure:
"The evidence creates a logical timeline: the text couldn't have been written before 1165 (since it describes events from that year), and it likely wasn't written after 1167 (since it shows the father as alive when he died that year). The assumption in the question stem will likely address why the text couldn't have been written after 1167."
Prethinking:
Question type:
Assumption - We need to find what must be true for the conclusion (Sviatovin was written between 1165 and 1167) to be valid based on the given evidence
Precision of Claims
The argument makes precise temporal claims about when events occurred (1165), when someone died (1167), and when the text was written (between 1165-1167). The key is the relationship between the author's knowledge and the timing of composition.
Strategy
For this assumption question, we need to identify what the argument takes for granted to reach its conclusion. The logic is: the text describes 1165 events and shows the father as alive (who died in 1167), so it must have been written between these dates. We need to think about what could falsify this reasoning while respecting the given facts - what assumptions make this timeline logic work?
This choice states that the life of Prince Sviatov is not the subject of any other medieval Moringian texts. However, whether other texts exist about Prince Sviatov has no bearing on when this particular text was written. The argument's conclusion about the dating of Sviatovin is based on internal evidence (the events described and the family diagram), not on its uniqueness as a source. This assumption is not necessary for the conclusion.
This choice assumes the author intended to provide an accurate report about Prince Sviatov's exploits. While this might seem relevant, the argument's logic doesn't depend on the author's intentions regarding accuracy. Even if the author wasn't trying to be accurate, the fact that the family diagram shows the father as living (when he died in 1167) still provides evidence about when the text was composed, regardless of the author's intentions.
This choice states that the diagram accurately represents the composition of Sviatov's family at the time Sviatovin was written. This is exactly what the argument must assume for its logic to work. If the diagram doesn't reflect the author's knowledge about who was alive when the text was written, then we can't use it to determine the text's composition date. The entire argument hinges on the idea that the author showed the father as living because the father was actually still alive when the author was writing. This assumption is essential.
This choice claims that Sviatovin is the earliest Moringian text whose composition can be dated to within a few years. This is irrelevant to the argument's logic. Whether this text is the earliest that can be precisely dated doesn't affect the reasoning about why it was written between 1165 and 1167. The argument stands independently of any comparison to other texts.
This choice assumes that Sviatovin was not written by Sviatov's father himself. While this might seem relevant since we're told the father died in 1167, this assumption isn't necessary. Even if the father wrote the text, the logic would still hold - he couldn't have written it after his own death in 1167, so it would still need to be written between 1165 and 1167.