PrepTest 152, Section 3, Question 6
Along with Egypt and Sumer, the third major(455 more words not shown)
The author would be most(18 more words not shown)
- AArchaeological data on(17 more words not shown)
- BIt is only(19 more words not shown)
- CThe Sumerian tablets(20 more words not shown)
- DWhile an adequate(18 more words not shown)
- EThe most recent(19 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
The investigations have been informative, but the picture is incomplete. Recent excavations reveal distinctive features and undermine the invasion account. At the same time, the author explicitly says the causes of the decline remain uncertain.
What we’re looking for
Look for a statement consistent with both points: new evidence has made credible conclusions possible, even though it hasn't answered every question. Don't substitute a story about why earlier scholars went wrong unless the writer gives us that story.
Working the answers
- A
Nothing says a small group controlled the data. The fact that earlier views were limited or mistaken doesn't establish that information was kept in a few scholars' hands. That is an added explanation of the history of the research.
- BCorrect
The opening contrasts the old view with what “recent excavations show,” and the final paragraph uses new findings to challenge the massacre theory. Those discoveries provide the basis for a more credible account of the civilization. Credible doesn't mean complete: uncertainty about the exact cause of the decline can remain alongside supported conclusions about its character and history.
- C
The Sumerian tablets are one source of written evidence the author mentions. We aren't told they contain the only known ancient references. Naming an example doesn't establish that there are no others.
- D
This assumes enough evidence was available for decades and that most of it was misread. New evidence changing a view doesn't establish either claim. Scholars could have lacked important evidence rather than misinterpreted an already adequate collection.
- E
The writer doesn't connect these investigations to a broader archaeological movement away from written evidence. The focus is what these particular discoveries reveal, not a trend across the field.
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