PrepTest 130, Section 2, Question 7
Traditional sources of evidence about ancient history are(454 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(17 more words not shown)
- AA particularly difficult(25 more words not shown)
- BA previously neglected(29 more words not shown)
- CThe fruitfulness of(28 more words not shown)
- DThe findings of(29 more words not shown)
- EA recently developed(28 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
The first paragraph sets up the difficulty: cloth deteriorates, surviving scraps and loom weights were discarded, and written references are scarce and hard to interpret. Yet researchers have learned a great deal. That prepares us to understand why the methods described next matter.
Working the answers
- ACorrect
The problem comes first so we can appreciate the progress. If useful evidence is scarce, better ways to preserve it, analyze it, and test interpretations become especially significant. A connects the opening difficulty to the methods that follow.
- B
There is neglected evidence, but the author doesn't use it to cast doubt on received views about ancient cultures. The later paragraphs explain how researchers overcome the evidence problem.
- C
This puts the technological advances in the wrong paragraph. They're introduced in paragraph two, after the first paragraph establishes the obstacles. We also get an account of an adopted preservation policy, not a subsequent argument proposing it.
- D
The opening primarily explains the research difficulties. It doesn't lay out findings to support a later claim that archaeologists underestimated women's role in ancient cultures.
- E
No argument urges other branches of archaeology to follow this field's lead. The discussion explains successful research into textiles, rather than using it to recommend technology to other specialties.
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