PrepTest 141, Section 2, Question 19
A carved flint object depicting a stylized human(74 more words not shown)
Which one of the following,(7 more words not shown)
- AThe tomb in(16 more words not shown)
- BCommunal objects were(12 more words not shown)
- CThe object was(11 more words not shown)
- DThe tomb in(12 more words not shown)
- EA speaking staff(11 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
If this carved head is too small to be a weapon, what else might it be? A ceremonial object? A symbol? Ruling out a working mace doesn't identify the remaining purpose.
The author proposes a speaking staff. Think of passing a small toy around a group: whoever holds it has the floor, and everyone else waits. An open mouth would make sense as a symbol for that use. So the idea is plausible, but it isn't the only possible account of a small carved object.
What we’re looking for
For a weakener, I'd consider another purpose or a fact that conflicts with the speaking-staff explanation. If people in that setting never used speaking staffs, for example, we'd have a reason to doubt the proposal. We need evidence against this explanation, not just another interesting fact about the carving.
Working the answers
- A
The absence of other possible weapons doesn't make this object less likely to be a speaking staff. It might fit the author's rejection of the weapon interpretation, but ruling out weapons still doesn't identify what this particular item was. A supplies no reason against the proposed communal use.
- BCorrect
A speaking staff is described as communal property. If communal objects were normally passed on to the next generation, why bury one with a person instead of keeping it available for the community? Its location in a tomb becomes a reason to question the classification. “Normally” allows exceptions, so B doesn't make the explanation impossible. It makes the burial less expected if the object really was a speaking staff.
- C
Unusually skilled carving doesn't settle the object's function. A carefully made object could be ceremonial, personal, or communal. Without a connection between that artistry and some use other than a speaking staff, the rarity doesn't undermine the explanation.
- D
A politically prominent person could have had an association with an assembly or its speaking staff. The person's prominence therefore doesn't conflict with the proposed use. We need a reason the tomb's contents are unlikely to include a communal speaking object, which B supplies more directly.
- E
Symbolizing a mace isn't the same as being used as a weapon. A speaking staff could resemble or stand for a mace while still serving the speaking function. The symbolic connection doesn't show that this object couldn't have been a speaking staff.
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