Question

In 1893, an excavation led by Wilhelm Dörpfeld uncovered an ancient city he believed to be Troy, the site of the war described in Homer's epic poem the Iliad. But that belief cannot be correct. In the Iliad, the Trojan War lasted ten years, but a city as small as the one uncovered by Dörpfeld's team could not have withstood a siege lasting ten years.
Which one of the following is an assumption required by the argument?A- In 1893, scholars knew of no other ancient city that could have been Troy.B- The Iliad does not provide any clues about the specific location of Troy.C- Dorpfeld's team found no evidence in the city they excavated that a siege had occurred there.D- The city excavated by Dorpfeld's team had many features that scholars of the time believed Troy had.E- The Iliad accurately represents the duration of the Trojan War.

Answer 1

Answer:

The correct answer is D: The city excavated by Dorpfeld's team had many features that scholars of the time believed Troy had.

Explanation:

The archeologists from the 19th century had no many pieces of evidence to follow, in many cases, just Homer's Iliad was the main resource, alongside Herodotus's Histories.

If we analyze each sentence, we can see that:

• It cannot be Option A: they had no idea that the city could be Troy. In fact, the statement doesn't say anything about this point.
• It cannot be Option B: in Homer's Illiad, Troy is described as a fortified city located near the Dardanelles.
• It cannot be Option C: the text itself states clearly that they didn't found any evidence of a siege.