PrepTest 108, Section 3, Question 7
The existing works of ancient literature, science, and(34 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(12 more words not shown)
- AWorks that contain(9 more words not shown)
- BMany extant works(9 more words not shown)
- CA surprisingly large(8 more words not shown)
- DSubversive ideas tend(7 more words not shown)
- EMost current ideas(9 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Could the most original ancient works have disappeared, leaving us with works that drew on them? That seems possible. Texts can be lost while later discussions of them survive.
The author points to references in the surviving works as evidence. I can see why those references matter: they suggest the authors were engaging with earlier material we can no longer read. A skeptical reader could still ask whether every referenced work really existed. An author can mention an imaginary book. But the larger claim here concerns originality, not merely whether some lost books existed.
What we’re looking for
For the strengthening question, I'd connect the frequent references with the conclusion that the surviving works were not the most original. A helpful rule would say that works frequently referring to others tend to draw their ideas from those other works. That would give the references the significance the author wants them to have.
Working the answers
- ACorrect
“Derivative” means drawn from, or based on, something else. If works that frequently reference other works tend to be derivative, the surviving works' references become evidence that they rely on earlier material.
That directly helps the claim about originality. The answer doesn't merely say that older works existed or that texts sometimes disappear. It explains why the particular feature cited—the frequent references—supports viewing the surviving works as less original.
- B
“Extant” means still existing. Praising the missing works tells us that the surviving authors had good things to say about them. It doesn't tell us whether the surviving works borrowed their ideas or were highly original themselves.
An author could admire another work and still produce something original. Praise alone also wouldn't resolve the separate possibility of an invented reference. B lacks the connection between the references and originality that A supplies.
- C
Many ancient texts being lost makes the general history plausible, but it doesn't tell us which works were most original. The lost works could have been derivative, while the most original works survived. We need evidence about the character of the surviving works, not just the number of missing texts.
- D
We aren't told that the missing works were subversive or that suppression explains their loss. Nor are we given a connection between subversiveness and originality. D would need additional facts before it could support this conclusion about the works we still have.
- E
This compares modern ideas with ancient ideas. The argument compares the originality of surviving ancient works with that of other ancient works. Modern thinkers rediscovering an ancient idea wouldn't settle which ancient author originated it or whether that author's work survives.
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