Although modern man had developed long before the migration from

Question

Although modern man had developed long before the migration from Africa began 55,000 years ago, no agricultural societies developed until about 10,000 years ago. But in the next 5000 years, agriculture developed in several unrelated regions of the world. It was not a chance occurrence that new agriculture independently appeared in the same 5000 years. The question is what inhibited agriculture worldwide for the first 45,000 years and what changed 10,000 years ago?

Many competing views have been developed primarily based on studies of archeology. For example, it had been suggested that agriculture appeared as a result of technological advances that gradually increased man’s ability to exploit the environment after man had occupied vast areas of the earth. Certain conditions were found necessary for the development of agriculture such as the technology for collection, processing, and storage of agricultural products, and the presence of potential domesticates in the local environment. Examples included development of improved hunting technology by one group and perhaps experimentation with agriculture by another. The increased efficiency of hunting failed as a survival technique, but the experimenting with agriculture may have had more success, and agricultural development was accelerated.

A recent study by Feynman and Ruzmaikin, American anthropologists, examines the proposition that the agricultural development depended on the stability of the climate. Data from Greenland ice cores and ocean climate proxies show that the last glacial climates were extremely unfavorable for the development of agriculture. Feynman and Ruzmaikin hypothesize that agriculture was impossible under such conditions. The quite favorable for agriculture climate conditions appeared 5000 years ago. From the experience of several independent cultures, the study estimates that the development of agriculture needed about 1000 years of climate free from significant climate variations on time scales of a few centuries. However, glacial-interglacial changes in variability have been quantified only for Greenland, and a global view may remain elusive.   1 
 1. In the context of the passage as a whole, the third paragraph’s mention of the work of Feynman and Ruzmaikin primarily serves to

A. demonstrate that the development of agriculture first took place in Greenland
B. allude to a challenge in obtaining a global view on the development of agricultural societies
C. provide an alternate point of view on why agriculture developed in a specific timeframe
D. illustrate the manner in which anthropologists built on the work of archeologists
E. provide an instance of the viewpoint that, according to the author, is likely true

2 
 2. Which of the following can be inferred from an explanation of the development of agricultural society stated in the passage?

A. Improvement in technology helped agriculture flourish because the improvement increased hunting efficiency. 
B. An increase in man’s ability to exploit the environment helped agriculture develop when potential domesticates were present in the local environment.
C. An increase in the efficiency of hunting would have prevented agriculture from developing if the increase had enhanced hunting as a survival technique. 
D. Man's occupation of vast areas of the earth would not have led to the development of agriculture if man had exploited the environment.
E. Man's migration from Africa would have established agricultural societies earlier than it did if the migration had begun in the last glacial climate.

3 
 3. It can be inferred from the passage that the author believes which of the following about the study of glacial-interglacial changes?

A. Data from Greenland ice cores aligns with data about glacial-interglacial changes from other ice cores and ocean climate proxies.
B. The study of glacial-interglacial changes reveals the reasons why agriculture was impossible under an unstable climate.
C. The study of glacial-interglacial changes may explain agriculture development but may not align with the explanations based on studies of archeology.
D. Research about glacial-interglacial changes is promising, and the development of agriculture will be explained when a global view is obtained successfully. 
E. Further study is necessary to understand how favorable the last glacial climates across the world were to the development of agriculture.

This is a RC Butler

Check the links to other Butler Projects:

Problem Solving Butler  
  Data Sufficiency Butler  
  Critical Reasoning Butler

vasu1104 · Answer

passage 1= the passage ask the puzzling question about what stops agriculture worldwide for first 45000 years and what changed 10000 years ago? 
 passage 2= it says that theories have been developed bases on archeology studies. the example of technological advancement has been discussed. 
 passage 3= there was proposition that the agriculture development depended on climate stability and two anthropologists did study on that propositions. they said that agriculture was difficult in situation where climates were unfavorable for development. but author says this apply for only greenland and global view remain elusive

Q-1. the first passage brought up the question about development of agriculture. the two subsequent passage provide views on what might have happened based on their different views. second passage tells about technology advances and third passage tells about another view that is stability of climate. 
 so it basically provides alternative view. 
 A,D and E are easy elimination. B is wrong because the two anthropologists are not suggesting to challenge in obtaining in global view rather its authors suggestion.  
 Only C defines what i just said in the beginning.
 
 Q-2 i got it from POE. A, D and E are easy to eliminate. C was bit difficult to reject. the passage says one group increased hunting technology and other improved agriculture with experimentation. but hunting failed as survival technique. but it doesnt say explicitly that if it had been successful, it would have prevented agriculture. so only B is left.

Q-3 in the last passage author says ony last line and in that it says that global view is elusive and tis study applies only for greenland. option E defines it properly.

ExpertsGlobal5 · Answer

Mind-map   
     
  To raise the question of how agriculture started in a particular period (Paragraph 1)  
  To state that technological advances led to   agricultural development   (Paragraph 2)  
  To indicate that a new study attributes agricultur  al development   to the stability of climate (Paragraph 3)  
   
  = = = = = = = = = =  
  1.   In the context of the passage as a whole, the third paragraph’s mention of the work of Feynman and Ruzmaikin primarily serves to  
   
 a.   demonstrate that the development of agriculture first took place in Greenland 
 b.   allude to a challenge in obtaining a global view on the development of agricultural societies 
  c.     provide an alternate point of view on why agriculture developed in a specific timeframe  
 d.   illustrate the manner in which anthropologists built on the work of archeologists 
 e.   provide an instance of the viewpoint that, according to the author, is likely true 
 
  Question Type: Structure  
   
   C is the best choice.   
  = = = = = = = = = =  
   
   Video explanation:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0K3Ryuza2k

2.   Which of the following can be inferred from an explanation of the development of agricultural society stated in the passage?   
   
 a.   Improvement in technology helped agriculture flourish because the improvement increased hunting efficiency.  
  b.     An increase in man’s ability to exploit the environment helped agriculture develop when potential domesticates were present in the local environment.  
 c.   An increase in the efficiency of hunting would have prevented agriculture from developing if the increase had enhanced hunting as a survival technique.  
 d.   Man's occupation of vast areas of the earth would not have led to the development of agriculture if man had exploited the environment. 
 e.   Man's migration from Africa would have established agricultural societies earlier than it did if the migration had begun in the last glacial climate.

Question Type: Inference  
 
   Explanation:    
   
 Each answer choice needs to be carefully evaluated in light of the information presented in the passage. 
 
 A. Trap. The second paragraph mentions that according to one explanation for the development of agriculture, “The increased efficiency of hunting failed as a survival technique, but the experimenting with agriculture may have had more success, and agricultural development was accelerated”; it can be inferred that,   this theory suggests that the improvement in technology increased hunting efficiency, but the increased efficiency was not sufficient for man’s survival and man moved to agriculture as a more successful means of survival  . Moreover, the paragraph states that “Certain conditions were found necessary for the development of agriculture such as the technology for collection, processing, and storage of agricultural products, and the presence of potential domesticates in the local environment”, suggesting that   improvement in technology related to domestic chores, and not related to hunting, facilitated the development of agriculture  . In the context of these references, it is incorrect to state that improvement in technology helped agriculture flourish “because the improvement increased hunting efficiency”, as the answer choice mentions. Incorrect. 
 
 B.  Correct . The second paragraph mentions that “  agriculture appeared as a result of technological advances that gradually increased man’s ability to exploit the environment  ” and that “certain conditions” were necessary for the development of agriculture such as “  the presence of potential domesticates in the local environment  ”; these references suggest that an increase in man’s ability to exploit the environment helped agriculture develop when potential domesticates were present in the local environment, as the answer choice mentions. 
 
 C. Trap. The second paragraph mentions that according to one explanation for the development of agriculture, “The increased efficiency of hunting failed as a survival technique, but the experimenting with agriculture may have had more success, and agricultural development was accelerated”; although it can be inferred that the increased efficiency in hunting was not sufficient for man’s survival and man moved to agriculture as a more successful means of survival, the passage doesn’t suggest that agriculture developed “because” hunting had failed; so,   it cannot be inferred that “if the increase in hunting had enhanced hunting as a survival technique”, the increase “would have prevented agriculture from developing”  , as the answer choice mentions. Incorrect. 
 
 D. Trap. The second paragraph mentions that   “agriculture appeared as a result of technological advances that gradually increased man’s ability to exploit the environment after man had occupied vast areas of the earth”  , suggesting that “man's occupation of vast areas of the earth” and “man exploiting the environment” led to the development of agriculture; so, it is incorrect to state that man's occupation of vast areas of the earth “would not have” led to agricultural development if man had exploited the environment, as the answer choice mentions. 
 
 E. The third paragraph mentions that   the last glacial climates were “extremely unfavorable” for the development of agriculture  , and so it is incorrect to state that man's migration from Africa would have established agricultural societies earlier than it did if the migration had begun in the last glacial climate, as the answer choice mentions. Moreover, the passage makes no connection between the first paragraph’s mention about man’s “migration from Africa” and “the last glacial climates” mentioned in the third paragraph. Incorrect. 
 
   B is the best choice.   
  = = = = = = = = = =

3.   It can be inferred from the passage that the author believes which of the following about the study of glacial-interglacial changes?   
 
a. Data from Greenland ice cores aligns with data about glacial-interglacial changes from other ice cores and ocean climate proxies.
b. The study of glacial-interglacial changes reveals the reasons why agriculture was impossible under an unstable climate.
c. The study of glacial-interglacial changes may explain agriculture development but may not align with the explanations based on studies of archeology.
d. Research about glacial-interglacial changes is promising, and the development of agriculture will be explained when a global view is obtained successfully. 
 e. Further study is necessary to understand how favorable the last glacial climates across the world were to the development of agriculture. 
 
 Question Type: Inference 
 
  Explanation:   
 
Each answer choice needs to be carefully evaluated in light of the information presented in the passage.
 
A. The third paragraph mentions that “  glacial-interglacial changes in variability have been quantified only for Greenland  ”; so, it is incorrect to state that data from Greenland ice cores “aligns with data about glacial-interglacial changes from other ice cores and ocean climate proxies”, as the answer choice mentions. Incorrect.
 
B. Trap. Although the third paragraph mentions that “Data from Greenland ice cores and ocean climate proxies show that the last glacial climates were extremely unfavorable for the development of agriculture”,   the passage makes no suggestion regarding the reason for such climate’s unsuitability for agriculture  ; so, it is incorrect to state that the author believes that the study of glacial-interglacial changes reveals the reasons why agriculture was impossible under an unstable climate, as the answer choice mentions. Incorrect.
 
C. Although the second paragraph mentions views about the development of agriculture based on the studies of archeology, and the third paragraph mentions views based on the study of glacial-interglacial changes,   the passage doesn’t attempt to align or compare both the views or suggest that the author expects some “alignment”  ; so, it is incorrect to state that the author believes that the study of glacial-interglacial changes may explain agriculture development but may not align with the explanations based on studies of archeology, as the answer choice mentions. Incorrect.
 
D. Trap. Although the third paragraph mentions a theory regarding the development of agriculture based on “glacial-interglacial changes” and states that “glacial-interglacial changes in variability have been quantified only for Greenland, and a global view may remain elusive”,   the passage doesn’t suggest the author’s opinion about the theory     or the certainty that “when a global view is obtained successfully”, the development of agriculture “will be explained”  , as the answer choice mentions. Incorrect.
 
E.  Correct . The third paragraph mentions a theory regarding the development of agriculture based on “glacial-interglacial changes”; according to this theory,   “the last glacial climates were extremely unfavorable for the development of agriculture”   ,  but   “glacial-interglacial changes in variability have been quantified only for Greenland, and a global view may remain elusive”  ; it can be inferred that the author believes that further study is necessary to understand how favorable the last glacial climates across the world were to the development of agriculture, as the answer choice mentions.
 
  E is the best choice.

Although modern man had developed long before the migration from

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards

GMAT Reading Comprehension (RC) Questions

Although modern man had developed long before the migration from

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards