PrepTest 102, Section 2, Question 13
Numismatist: In medieval Spain, most gold coins were(81 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(18 more words not shown)
- ACoins minted from(15 more words not shown)
- BThe source of(20 more words not shown)
- CTwo coins could(19 more words not shown)
- DNo gold coins(12 more words not shown)
- EThe only unrefined(10 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Keep the raw gold separate from what the mint can make out of it.
The Senegalese gold starts at 92 percent purity, the highest known. The mints leave that gold unrefined, so coins made from it retain the 92 percent content. But the mints also make purer coins. That isn't a contradiction: refining less pure material can produce something purer than the best raw material.
What we’re looking for
We're being asked for an inference, not to find a flaw. My focus would be those purity relationships. The Senegalese source remains at 92 percent; coins above that level come from gold processed from some other source.
Working the answers
- A
The same proportion of gold doesn't mean the same weight of gold. A small coin and a large coin could both be 92 percent gold while containing very different amounts. For example, 92 percent of ten grams is twice 92 percent of five grams. The passage fixes the proportion for Senegalese coins, not their size or total gold weight.
- BCorrect
Some refined gold used in the coins began as material with less than 92 percent gold content. The mints produced purer coins, so they did refine some gold. That material wasn't Senegalese gold, which was never refined. And Senegalese gold was the purest known raw source at 92 percent, so the other source began below that purity. Refining then raised its gold content.
The reason isn't that there would be “no point” refining 92 percent gold. Someone could want greater purity. The relevant facts are what was actually left unrefined and how its starting purity compared with the other sources.
- C
Nothing establishes the coins' monetary values or how those values related to gold percentages. Two coins of different purities might have the same value for some reason, but the passage doesn't supply it. We shouldn't add a pricing system to facts about composition.
- D
We aren't given a minimum purity for all gold coins. Perhaps another source contained 90 percent gold and was also minted without refining. That is a possibility, not a claim about what these mints actually did. It shows why the 92 percent figure for one source doesn't rule out lower-purity coins.
- E
Being the purest known source isn't the same as being the only source pure enough for minting without refining. The passage tells us Senegalese gold could be used that way. It doesn't tell us that slightly less pure gold couldn't. E adds an exclusivity claim the facts don't support.
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