PrepTest 152, Section 3, Question 4
Along with Egypt and Sumer, the third major(455 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(12 more words not shown)
- AThe Indus Valley(5 more words not shown)
- BThere are no(10 more words not shown)
- CThere is evidence(14 more words not shown)
- DNo signs of(13 more words not shown)
- EThe Indus Valley(3 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
Wheeler claims the civilization ended in a massacre by invaders. The author counters that claim with missing records of the event, no archaeological signs of battles, and evidence that the supposed invaders weren't in the region at the time.
What we’re looking for
The question asks for evidence cited directly against Wheeler's explanation. Keep that job separate from evidence supporting the author's alternative explanation. A fact can be true and relevant to the decline without doing the particular work this question asks about.
Working the answers
- A
The region's seismic volatility makes an earthquake explanation worth considering. Here it supports a possible environmental cause; it isn't the evidence the writer cites directly against the alleged massacre. Being earthquake-prone doesn't, by itself, show whether invaders attacked.
- BCorrect
The author expressly says archaeologists have found no signs of fighting inside the urban centers (paragraph 4). That is a problem for an account built around a final massacre by invading forces. Missing evidence isn't a universal proof that an event could never have happened, but it is one of the stated reasons for rejecting Wheeler's account here.
- C
Evidence of drought supports another possible cause of relocation. Like A, it belongs to the environmental explanation. The direct challenge to the battle-and-massacre account is the absence of evidence of the battles it alleges.
- D
The lack of signs of dominant rulers supports the suggestion of partly democratic government. It doesn't establish whether an outside force later invaded.
- E
Agriculture helps explain how the population was supported and why drought could matter. The fact that people farmed does not itself counter an invasion theory.
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