PrepTest 154, Section 3, Question 5
Complex societies flourished on the central plateau of(465 more words not shown)
According to the passage, Great(4 more words not shown)
- Aonly with smaller(4 more words not shown)
- Bmainly with states(3 more words not shown)
- Cwith other African(1 more words not shown)
- Donly with other(2 more words not shown)
- Ewith neighboring states(4 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
Be careful about the difference between where goods originated and whom Great Zimbabwe traded with. Chinese pottery doesn't by itself prove a direct trading relationship with China. The pottery could have passed through other traders before reaching the city.
What we’re looking for
The opening gives us the actual connection: goods came from trading centers on Africa's east coast. That's the relationship we can confidently select.
Working the answers
- A
“Only” conflicts with the stated trade with the east coast. Their trading relationships weren't confined to smaller city-states on the plateau.
- B
Great Zimbabwe exported gold, but that doesn't establish that its trading partners were mainly states that also exported gold. Knowing what this city sent out tells us neither its partners' main exports nor which partners predominated.
- CCorrect
Africa's east coast is another African region relative to Great Zimbabwe's inland plateau. The opening explicitly locates the trading centers there, so we don't have to infer a direct connection to the countries where the luxury goods originated.
- D
We aren't told that all trading partners were cattle-herding peoples. Cattle's importance within Great Zimbabwe doesn't establish the occupations of everyone it traded with.
- E
Grain shortages and transport difficulties might make a reader imagine grain imports. But the text doesn't say neighboring states supplied grain. The goods actually identified in this trade discussion are luxury items such as pottery and glass.
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