Archaeologists have found wheeled ceramic toys made by the Toltec, twelfth-century inhabitants of what is now Veracruz. Although there is no archaeological evidence that the Toltec used wheels for anything but toys, some anthropologists hypothesize that wheeled utility vehicles were used to carry materials needed for the monumental structures the Toltec produced.

Which of the following, if true, would most help the anthropologists explain the lack of evidence noted above?


(A) The Toltec sometimes incorporated into their toys representations of utensils or other devices that served some practical purpose.

(B) Any wheeled utility vehicles used by the Toltec could have been made entirely of wood, and unlike ceramic, wood decays rapidly in the humid climate of Veracruz.

(C) Carvings in monument walls suggest that the Toltec's wheeled ceramic toys sometimes had ritual uses in addition to being used by both children and adults as decorations and playthings.

(D) Wheeled utility vehicles were used during the twelfth century in many areas of the world, but during this time wheeled toys were not very common in areas outside Veracruz.

(E) Some of the wheeled ceramic toys were found near the remains of monumental structures.
_________________

When u r about to make ends meet, someone moves the ends.

Well said Anandnk. I know for a fact I would have picked B as first choice but it just seemed too obvious to me. Weird, the more you overanalyze a CR, the more you question your first choice over a contender and end up falling for the contender. I do agree with Version2 though that B is shaky in the sense that it simply says that the wheel evidence don't exist anymore because they were built of wood hence the lack of evidence. We could have said that argument about just anything.

Ok, I think B is stronger now because the question is asking about "the lack of evidence". In other words, why the evidence is gone? That is because the wheels are made of woods. On the other hand, A should be the answer to another question: Despite the lack of evidence, did the Toltec use the wheel? Yes, because as A says, if it was found on toys and toys themselves represent devices that are practical in Toltec's lives, then the wheel was used by Toltec. Since the question is asking about how to explain the lack of evidence, then B is clearly best. What brain buster!
_________________

Best Regards,

Paul

hi,
what the question is asking us is some reason for lack of evidence for that wheeled utility vehicles were used to carry
materials needed for the monumental structures the Toltec produced....
if we look at the choices...
(A) The Toltec sometimes incorporated into their toys representations of utensils or other devices that served some practical purpose.
it gives a reason to believe in the hypothesize but does not provide any reason for lack of evidence..

(B) Any wheeled utility vehicies used by the Toltec could have been made entirely of wood, and unlike ceramic, wood decays rapidly in the humid climate of Veracruz.
correct ... this gives us the reason we are looking for that is since they were made of wood ,they have decayed and no longer available

(C) Carvings in monument walls suggest that the Toltec’s wheeled ceramic toys sometimes had ritual uses in addition to being used by both children and adults as decorations and playthings.
it just tells us another use but not what we are looking for...

(D) Wheeled utility vehicles were used during the twelfth century in many areas of the world, but during this time wheeled toys were not very common in areas outside Veracruz.
out of scope.. we are not interested in what had happened in other areas as it does not help us in any conclusion...

(E) Some of the wheeled ceramic toys were found near the remains of monumental structures
again out of scope

ans B...
_________________

1) Absolute modulus : http://gmatclub.com/forum/absolute-modulus-a-better-understanding-210849.html#p1622372
2)Combination of similar and dissimilar things : http://gmatclub.com/forum/topic215915.html
3) effects of arithmetic operations : https://gmatclub.com/forum/effects-of-arithmetic-operations-on-fractions-269413.html
4) Base while finding % increase and % decrease : https://gmatclub.com/forum/percentage-increase-decrease-what-should-be-the-denominator-287528.html


GMAT Expert

I chose 'B' by using POE but now after having spent some more time on 'B' I understand why no other option comes even remotely close to it.

The argument says that archaeologists have found wheeled ceramic toys made by the Toltec and they probably could not find any evidence of the fact that the wheels were used for any other purpose except for the toys, anthropologists on the other hand believe that the Toltec used wheeled utility vehicles to carry materials used for the construction of the monuments they produced. We need to find an answer choice that lends some credence to the fact that wheeled utility vehicles were indeed used by the Toltec in the time period specified.
Option 'B' is the correct answer as it says that wheeled utility vehicles were indeed used in those times but the fact that any wheeled vehicle was made from wood and wood decays in the humid climate of that city is the reason why anthropologists are right in their hypothesis and archaeologists could not find any evidence of wheeled utility vehicles as any wheeled vehicles (made of wood) probably produced in the 12th century would have decayed by the time archaeologists surveyed that region in the 21st century.