PrepTest 152, Section 1, Question 4
Archaeologist: Our university museum possesses several ancient artifacts(55 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(10 more words not shown)
- AThe university museum(7 more words not shown)
- BAny important ancient(13 more words not shown)
- CThe ancient artifacts(12 more words not shown)
- DThe university museum(11 more words not shown)
- EThere is an(19 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
The museum can show a legal acquisition. The archaeologist still thinks the artifacts should go back.
Those positions needn't be contradictory. Imagine an artifact discovered in one country and later bought by a museum elsewhere. Documentation of that purchase answers one question about the transaction. The proposed principle answers another: which nation has the overriding right to the artifact? Under the rule given here, that right belongs to the country where it was discovered.
An earlier wrongful taking could make the distinction especially easy to see, but we aren't told that happened. The archaeologist doesn't need to prove theft to make this argument. The stated principle is supposed to override the museum's legal-acquisition defense, and institutions are obliged to honor that right.
What we’re looking for
So, for the main conclusion, what does the archaeologist want this museum to do? Return these artifacts. The general rule and the duty to honor it supply the reasons for that specific recommendation.
Working the answers
- ACorrect
Returning the disputed artifacts is the action the archaeologist recommends. The legal documentation is acknowledged, then the overriding right and the institution's obligation are offered as reasons that the museum should return the items anyway. A states the recommendation those reasons support.
- B
This is the general principle used to reach the recommendation. The argument doesn't stop at saying who has the right to important artifacts; it applies that rule to what this museum should do with its disputed items. B gives a reason for the conclusion, rather than the conclusion itself.
- C
The archaeologist grants that the museum obtained the items legally. That is a potential defense of keeping them, which the argument says the overriding principle outweighs. The conclusion concerns what the museum should do despite this fact, not whether the documentation establishes a legal acquisition.
- D
This describes the situation that calls for a decision: the museum has artifacts whose ownership is disputed. The argument then offers a rule for resolving what the institution should do. D sets up the problem without stating the proposed response.
- E
Calling the principle overriding explains why the archaeologist gives it priority over legal acquisition. But it is still the principle used to support a further claim: return the artifacts. The argument's ultimate point is that application to this museum, not simply the existence of the general rule.
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