Self-study
How the pigment known as Han purple was synthesized by the ancient Chinese of the Qin and Han dynasties has puzzled scientists. ███ ███████ ████████ ████████ ███ ████ ████████ ███████████ ████ ███ ███ ██████ ██ ███ ██████████ ██ █ ██████ ████ ██ █████ █████ ██████ ████ ███████ ████ ████ ████████ ██ █████████ ████ ████████ ██████████ ███ ████████ ██ ████ ████ ███ ██████ ██ ████ ██ ████████ ███ ███████ ████████████ █████ ███ ██████ ███ ████████ ██████████ ██ ██████████ ████████ ██████ █████ ███████████
Summarize Argument: Phenomenon-Hypothesis
The author hypothesizes that Han purple was probably discovered by accident during the production of glass. This is based on the fact that the same chemical ingredients are used for Han purple and a common type of white glass that was made during the period Han purple was made. In addition, both Han purple and this white glass were made using processes that involved high heat and mixing in lead.
Notable Assumptions
The author assumes there’s no more likely explanation for the origin of Han purple besides accidental discovery during the production of white glass.
17.
Which one of the following, ██ █████ █████ ████ ██████████ ███ █████████
a
Chemical analysis shows ████ ████ ██ ███ █████ █████████ ██ ████ ███ ██████ ███ ███ █████ █████ ████ ████████ ██████ █ █████ ████████████ ███████
This strengthens by establishing at least that Han purple and white glass were produced near each other. If this were not true, the author’s hypothesis wouldn’t make sense. (A) isn’t a powerful strengthener, but it most strengthens compared to the other answers.
Plausibility
Plausibility
Presenting evidence that corroborates (in Strengthen) or conflicts (in Weaken) with the author's hypothesized explanation or the predictions that follow from that explanation.
b
Han purple was ████ ███ ██████ ███ ██████████ ██████ ███████ ███ █████ █████ ███ ████ ██ ████ ███████ █████████ ██████
The purposes of Han purple and white glass doesn’t reveal anything about how Han purple was discovered.
c
The technique used ███ █████████ ███ ██████ ███ █████ ██ ████ ███ ██████ ██████ ███ ███ ███ ███ ██████████
This limits the number of people who knew how to make Han purple. But does this help show that Han purple was discovered during the production of white glass? We have no reason to think so.
d
The ingredients used ██ █████████ ████ ███ ██████ ███ ███ █████ █████ ████ ██████ ██████████ ██████ ███ ███ ███ ███ ██████████
How easy the ingredients were to obtain doesn’t shed any light on whether Han purple was discovered during the production of white glass.
e
The white glass ██ █████ ██ ████ █████████ █████████ ████ ███ ███ ███ ███ █████████ ████ ███ ██████ ███
(E) suggests white glass might have been more widely used or more durable. But that doesn’t tell us anything about whether Han purple was discovered during the production of white glass.