PT23.S3.Q06 - a purse containing 32 ancient gold coins

Grace...

http://7sage.com/lsat_explanations/lsat-23-section-3-question-06/
I had some reservations in choosing answer choice C. I was able to eliminate all the others so answer choice C seemed most likely to be correct, but I wasn't 100% sure. The reason is that the premise states "The purse of a trader in the city "would probably" have contained a more diverse set of coins." and the C uses more definitive word, "had been brought". I think we don't know for a fact that it 'had been' brought by the pilgrims. It is a speculation. Since it is only a speculation that the purse would probably have contained a more diverse set of coins. I would think the correct answer would say "The purse... was probably brought . . . by a pilgrim."

c.janson35

I see your reservation with C, but we are only trying to offer support for one of the hypotheses. So, just because the information we have doesn't 100% prove the hypothesis doesn't mean that it isn't supported by it.

We know that the coins were from Morrocco. We also know that the city was a popular stopping point for travelers coming from Morrocco and going to Mecca. So, we can think: why would there be a purse of Morroccan gold coins inside the city? Well, there's 2 clear ways:

1. A trader in the Jordanian city had the coins in his purse because it's an important trading stop.

2. A Morroccan pilgrim brought the coins there.

But we have 2 clear scenarios, so how could we make a hypothesis about just one of them?....

"The purse of a trade would have probably had a more diverse set of coins."

Cool, so this makes the first scenario more unlikely! It virtually eliminates the first possibility, leaving only the second. Thus, a hypothesis that looks like number 2 would be supported, which is what C says.

How do we know this is most supported? Well, you've eliminated all of the other answers! And this is the only one with any support.

Hope this helps!