PrepTest 152, Section 3, Question 1
Along with Egypt and Sumer, the third major(455 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(9 more words not shown)
- ARecent evidence sheds(24 more words not shown)
- BBronze Age civilizations,(15 more words not shown)
- CThe Indus Valley(13 more words not shown)
- DThe Indus Valley(23 more words not shown)
- ECertain long-held assumptions(20 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
We've already identified two parts of the main point: the Indus Valley civilization was more remarkable than archaeologists had thought, and its decline appears to involve environmental disruption and relocation rather than an invading army. We want an answer that covers that change in understanding.
What we’re looking for
The wording may be broader than our prediction. An answer about new evidence changing old views can capture both parts without naming every achievement or possible disaster.
Working the answers
- ACorrect
“Significance” covers the new account of a civilization once dismissed as uninteresting. “Decline” covers the challenge to Wheeler's invasion theory and the evidence for relocation. This brings together the opening and the final paragraph rather than treating either as a separate main point.
- B
This expands the subject to Bronze Age civilizations generally. Egypt and Sumer help introduce the Indus Valley civilization; we aren't given an argument that all these civilizations' achievements have been underappreciated. The focus is the new understanding of this particular society.
- C
The writer mentions possible democratic government and early cultivation of crops. But that doesn't establish a role in the later development of democracy and modern agriculture. Nor would that claim explain the extended discussion of the civilization's decline.
- D
The writer does draw conclusions about the society from its planning, housing, agriculture, and trade. Uncertainty about exactly why it declined doesn't mean there is insufficient evidence for legitimate conclusions about its cultural practices.
- E
Wheeler's theory is challenged, but the civilization isn't merely an example in a general lesson about scholars making mistakes. E also leaves out the earlier discussion of its distinctive achievements. The central subject is what new discoveries reveal about the Indus Valley civilization.
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