PrepTest 150, Section 1, Question 20
It might reasonably have been expected that the(461 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(9 more words not shown)
- AImportant questions about(14 more words not shown)
- BCurrent evidence suggests(15 more words not shown)
- CThe reduction of(19 more words not shown)
- DFor at least(13 more words not shown)
- ENo special biological(16 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
We've already predicted the main point: cooking appears to have changed human digestive anatomy. The authors connect reliance on cooked food with smaller teeth and jaws, then offer cooking as an explanation for other digestive features.
What we’re looking for
Look for that larger claim. The answer can phrase it as an adaptation to cooked food rather than as cooking's effect on anatomy; those are two ways of expressing the same proposed relationship.
Working the answers
- A
Unanswered questions are part of the discussion, especially about soft tissues. But the authors do more than report a mystery: they propose cooking as an explanation for our anatomy and our difficulty living on raw food in the wild. A leaves out that proposal.
- BCorrect
This expresses the adaptation we predicted. The first paragraph suggests selection for efficient use of cooked diets, and the later paragraphs discuss anatomical features that may reflect that selection. “Current evidence suggests” also preserves the authors' level of confidence.
- C
Smaller teeth and jaws are one piece of the case. What dietary change might explain them? Cooking. This answer leaves that connection unnamed and turns a supporting anatomical observation into the whole point.
- D
The archaeological finds help answer the objection that cooking is too recent to matter. Even if we accept a long history of cooking, the question is what that history did to human biology. D gives background without that conclusion, and the evidence of fire and apparent ovens does not establish the exact proportion of cooked food in the diet.
- E
This is the opening reason one might expect no anatomical change. The authors then explain why changes may nevertheless have occurred. No special adaptation being required to begin eating easier food does not prevent later selection from favoring efficient use of it.
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