Pressure Flaking was a Technique used by Early Men to make Sharp-Edged Tools GMAT Critical Reasoning

Question: Pressure flaking was a technique used by early men to make sharp-edged tools. Till recently, the earliest records of existence of such tools were from 18th Century B.C. Europe, leading paleontologists to hypothesize that early men from Europe were the pioneers of the pressure flaking technique. However, recently, similar sharp-edged tools have been discovered in Africa along with other inscriptions. These inscriptions could be dated back to 25th Century B.C. So, it is unlikely that early men from Europe were the pioneers of the technique.

Which of the following statements best supports the conclusion of the above argument?

1. Early men migrated to Europe in 20th century B.C. before which European regions were uninhabited by humans.
2. Early men from Europe were known to have utilized Pressure flaking to craft many tools required to hunt and protect themselves from the wild animals of those times.
3. Last year, evidence of a technique called ‘Stone Filing’ that is supposed to have been utilized by early men even before they utilized Pressure flaking has been discovered in the same area in Africa.
4. Early men from Europe were known for developing the instruments that make it easy to apply the Pressure flaking technique in the development of sharp-edged tools.
5. Given the kind of equipment required to utilize Pressure flaking, it is highly unlikely that pressure flaking could have been developed earlier than 20th Century B.C.

“Pressure flaking was a technique used by early men to make sharp-edged tools.”- is a GMAT critical reasoning topic. This GMAT critical comes with five options and candidates need to choose the one which is correct. GMAT critical reasoning tests the logical and analytical skills of the candidates. To answer the question, a candidate can either find a piece of evidence that would weaken the argument or have logical flaws in the argument.  Candidates get 65 minutes to answer 36 MCQ questions in the critical reasoning section of the GMAT.

Correct Answer: A

Explanation: This is a GMAT critical reasoning question. An assumption is an implied hypothesis. So we are looking for something that is implied in the argument. In case it is wrong or maybe disable the argument.
The statement states-
Pressure flaking was a technique used by early men to make sharp-edged tools. Till recently, the earliest records of the existence of such tools were from 18th Century B.C. Europe, leading paleontologists to hypothesize that early men from Europe were the pioneers of the pressure flaking technique. However, recently, similar sharp-edged tools have been discovered in Africa along with other inscriptions. These inscriptions could be dated back to 25th Century B.C. So, it is unlikely that early men from Europe were the pioneers of the technique.
Which of the following statements best supports the conclusion of the above argument?
We are looking for an answer that supports that it is unlikely that early men from Europe were the pioneers of the technique.

1. Early men migrated to Europe in 20th century B.C. before which European regions were uninhabited by humans. Clearly correct
2. Early men from Europe were known to have utilized Pressure flaking to craft many tools required to hunt and protect themselves from the wild animals of those times.

Doesn't support - doesn't give a time indication

1. Last year, evidence of a technique called ‘Stone Filing’ that is supposed to have been utilized by early men even before they utilized Pressure flaking has been discovered in the same area in Africa. Doesn't support - refers to Africa
2. Early men from Europe were known for developing the instruments that make it easy to apply the Pressure flaking technique in the development of sharp-edged tools. same as B
3. Given the kind of equipment required to utilize Pressure flaking, it is highly unlikely that pressure flaking could have been developed earlier than the 20th Century B.C. Doesn't support - in fact, it supports the opposite

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