GMAT prep CR
A medieval manuscript called L contains all eighteen extant tragedies by the Greek playwright Euripides. Of these, ten called the “select plays,” are accompanied in L by ancient commentaries and also appear in other medieval manuscripts; this group includes some of Euripides’ best-known works, including the Medea. The other eight, which appear in alphabetical order, without commentary. The Electra is one of the alphabeticals.
Which of the following can be reliably concluded on the basis of the Statements given?
A. Only Euripides’ best-known works are accompanied by ancient commentaries in extant medieval manuscripts.
B. The select plays are accompanied by ancient commentaries because they were the best known of Euripides’ works.
C. No commentaries were written about Euripides’ Electra in ancient times.
D. Euripides’ Medea never appears in medieval manuscripts unaccompanied by ancient commentary.
E. Euripides’ Electra does not appear accompanied by a commentary in any extant medieval manuscript.
OA: E
Why C is incorrect?
My logic:
-Electra appears only in L
– Electra is part of alphabetical
-Alphabetical is without commentary
Combining 3 we get C
Please point out flaw in my understanding
“Alphabetical is without commentary” is incorrect. It should read “without commentary IN L”.
read this sentence carefully — “Of these, ten called the “select plays,” are accompanied in L by ancient commentaries”
Hi Arvind,
Sorry to reiterate. I am not sure, if i understood the explanation correctly. Let me explain what i understood from the explanation
L has 18 extant tragedies:
-10 are accompanied by ancient commentaries. Lets call this Group1
-8 are not accompanied by commentaries. Lets call this Group2
Now, we know Electra belongs to Group2. So, we can say, Electra is not accompanied by commentary in L. But we dont know, whether commentaries were written by manuscript other than L. Is my understanding correct for eliminating option C?
If yes, then why E is the right answer? E also says, Electra is not accompanied by commentary by any extant medieval manuscript. Which maybe wrong as we dont know whether commentaries are written on Electra other than L.
Really confused, Please help!!!
Sorry for the trouble caused!