PrepTest 147, Section 2, Question 15
It is generally accepted that woodland clearings were(434 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(9 more words not shown)
- AThough fear of(28 more words not shown)
- BThough the resource-procurement(19 more words not shown)
- CThough ethnographic evidence(23 more words not shown)
- DEvidence of woodland(25 more words not shown)
- EEthnography provides clear(15 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
We've already predicted the central comparison: the accepted food-procurement explanation has limited support, and fear of the wilderness may explain paths and some clearings another way. We need that alternative account of the clearings, not just the observation that people can fear nature.
What we’re looking for
Keep the author's level of confidence, too. This is a proposed explanation supported by suggestive evidence, not a settled answer to why all the clearings existed.
Working the answers
- A
Fear of the wilderness helps introduce the alternative, but this answer leaves out the use and origin of clearings—the problem the author is trying to explain. It also assigns the support to archaeology, whereas the discussion of fear builds on observations of other societies.
- BCorrect
This captures both sides: the resource-procurement model is accepted, but the evidence can also support a noneconomic model. The proposed fear-to-paths-to-clearings connection supplies that alternative. Comparable support doesn't require either model to have been proved.
- C
The author does not present archaeological evidence suggesting that the clearings had multiple uses. The opening instead emphasizes how weak the archaeological connection is, and the alternative develops from other ethnographic evidence and a proposed mechanism.
- D
The record of vegetation is mentioned, but its role is to identify clearings, not to establish the use of prescribed paths. This also leaves out the central comparison between economic and noneconomic explanations.
- E
“Clear and unambiguous” reverses the point. The available evidence leaves room for competing explanations; the author doesn't claim ethnography settles the question.
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