PrepTest 154, Section 3, Question 1
Complex societies flourished on the central plateau of(465 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(9 more words not shown)
- AUnderstanding the basis(19 more words not shown)
- BThe diversity and(22 more words not shown)
- CThe power of(19 more words not shown)
- DGreat Zimbabwe's economic(13 more words not shown)
- EThe communal nature(21 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
We've already predicted the main point: cattle supported Great Zimbabwe's prosperity and social organization. They helped sustain the population, gave rulers influence over ordinary people's lives, and provided an incentive for mining labor.
What we’re looking for
The answer doesn't need to repeat our wording. It does need to capture that underlying role, rather than returning to the gold-centered explanation the author challenges.
Working the answers
- ACorrect
This captures both sides of the argument: understanding the city's prosperity and understanding how its society was organized require understanding cattle. The discussion of food, royal patronage, marriage, and mining explains the “dynamics” referred to here.
- B
The author emphasizes a particular economic system, not the abundance and diversity of resources generally. We also never receive an explanation of Great Zimbabwe's fall. B turns the discussion into a broader rise-and-fall account it doesn't provide.
- C
This gives the rulers control over croplands, but the crucial resource they owned was cattle. The difficulties of crop cultivation help explain why the alternative cattle economy mattered so much.
- D
This leaves cattle out altogether. Gold mining and trade are important parts of the city's prosperity, but the author's point is that we must understand the cattle economy beneath them. D restates the surface explanation without the central correction.
- E
The ownership wasn't communal. The ruling class owned cattle and gave ordinary people their use through patronage. Being allowed to use a ruler's cattle isn't the same as everyone collectively owning the herd.
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