Archeologists excavating sites in the “Fertile Crescent” region of the

Question

Archeologists excavating sites in the “Fertile Crescent” region of the Middle East have found huge amounts of small clay tokens. These tokens varied greatly in size and shape and had fairly detailed pictographs pressed into them. Anthropologists fiercely debated the function of the tokens. Many researchers thought the tokens had religious significance; after all, the region had a rich, well-documented spiritual tradition, as evidenced by the splendidly designed temple at Uruk. Other scholars believed that the tokens were a sort of game piece or toy. However, neither explanation was wholly satisfying to the anthropological community. Finally, in 1970, Denise Schmandt-Besserat unlocked the secret of the tokens. They were accounting tools, with the quantity and type of the good indicated by the pictograph on the piece.

Cognitive scientists have since shown that all humans, and even some animals, possess the ability to subitize—that is, to recognize instantly the difference between one, two, and three objects, although Kaufman et al have established that this ability differs from actual counting. In order to move from mere subitizing to actual counting and arithmetic requires the ability to employ metaphor, according to Lakoff and Nunez. Arithmetic began, contend Lakoff and Nunez, when early humans used metaphor to map from the domain of concrete physical objects to the domain of abstract or symbolic numbers. Lakoff and Nunez have shown that by starting with a tangible collection of objects and then adding or subtracting from that collection allows all of the abstract arithmetic axioms to be construed. The ancient Sumerian tokens, which used symbols to represent actual quantities of items, represent perhaps the first instance of this sort of metaphorical mapping. Indeed, many credit ancient Sumerians with the invention of mathematics.   1 
 C 
 Q1) Which of the following best states the main idea of the passage?

A) The discovery of ancient Sumerian tokens depicting quantities of goods provides compelling evidence that the ability to subitize is universal.
B) The ability to metaphorically map concrete objects as abstract symbols first occurred in ancient Sumerian civilizations.
C) Discoveries in cognitive science concerning the nature of mathematical thought coupled with archeological evidence indicate that the Sumerians were one of the founders of mathematics.
D) Mathematics would not have developed without the emergence of a metaphorizing capacity.
E) Counting and arithmetic differ from subitizing in that subitizing is a universal phenomenon while counting and arithmetic are localized.

2 
 C 
 Q2) The author’s claim about the ability to subitize would be most strengthened by the discovery of which of the following?

A)A Wedda man from a Sri Lankan tribe who represents the number of coconuts in his collection by assigning a corresponding clam shell to each coconut
B)An individual who, after sustaining a serious head injury, loses the ability to add and subtract numbers
C)A numbering system from an early Chinese civilization that closely resembles a system developed by a Meso-American culture
D)A tribe with lifestyles and customs unchanged since the Stone Age whose language contains words which designate only between “few” and “many”
E)A nomadic people who keep track of the days of their wandering by making notches in a thighbone

3 
 C 
 Q3) The author of the passage would most likely agree with which of the following statements:

A) The discovery of the ability in some chimpanzees to count would not cause cognitive scientists to rethink their position on the nature of mathematics.
B) Cognitive scientists should expect human infants to be able to differentiate up to three objects.
C) The ability to subitize requires the same mental faculties as the ability to count and perform arithmetic.
D) The earliest known use of the metaphorizing capacity in humans involved the mapping of goods onto clay tokens.
E) Arithmetic axioms, rather than being accepted as inherently true, can be proven by the manipulation of concrete collections of objects.

RC Butler 2021  -  Practice Two RC Questions Everyday.   
Passage # 124 Date: 29-Mar-2021
 This question is a part of RC Butler 2021 .  Click here for Details

mimishyu · Accepted Answer

Passage Summary

Para1:  With the excavation of archeological evidence, several possible theories pose to explain the token found, and made the conclusion on its use as  “counting tool”

Para2:  The author explain the reason to the proposed explanation in para1 by using Sumerian to illustrate how the process in human intelligence at ancient time evolve from the simple subtilizing to develop the capacity to comprehend counting and the abstract arithmetic concept

Q1) Which of the following best states the main idea of the passage?

A)  The discovery of ancient Sumerian tokens depicting quantities of goods provides compelling evidence that the ability to subitize is universal.

B)  The ability to metaphorically map concrete objects as abstract symbols first occurred in ancient Sumerian civilizations.

In order to move from mere subitizing to actual counting and arithmetic requires the ability to employ metaphor, according to Lakoff and Nunez. Arithmetic began, contend Lakoff and Nunez, when  “early humans”  used metaphor to map from the domain of concrete physical objects to the domain of abstract or symbolic numbers. …. The ancient Sumerian tokens….

………from sentence in Para2, we only know ancient Sumerian is an  “early”  civilization, whether its first or not we don’t know for sure

C)  Discoveries in cognitive science concerning the nature of mathematical thought coupled with archeological evidence indicate that the Sumerians were one of the founders of mathematics.

Correct  ,  Para 1  states the possible explanation to the archeological evidence found, then in para2, using cognitive science to explain how the primitive mathematical thought evolve from subitizing to abstract arithmetic understanding, as could be seen in the Sumerian civilization, (C) perfectly cover the whole context

D)  Mathematics would not have developed without the emergence of a metaphorizing capacity.

Lakoff and Nunez, when early humans used metaphor to map from the domain of concrete…..this statement is in  Para 2 , (D) only concern Para 2 and doesn’t cover the whole passage

E)  Counting and arithmetic differ from subitizing in that subitizing is a universal phenomenon while counting and arithmetic are localized.

Same as (A), subitizing is just used as a medium to illustrate the actual counting-invention of mathematic, not the main focus for the passage

Q2) The author’s claim about the ability to subitize would be most strengthened by the discovery of which of the following?

Cognitive scientists have since shown that all humans, and even some animals, possess the ability to subitize—that is, to recognize instantly the difference between one, two, and three objects,  although Kaufman et al have established that this ability differs from actual counting. In order to move from mere subitizing to actual counting and arithmetic requires the ability to employ metaphor, according to Lakoff and Nunez. Arithmetic began, contend Lakoff and Nunez, when early humans used metaphor to map from the domain of concrete physical objects to the domain of abstract or symbolic numbers.

A)  A Wedda man from a Sri Lankan tribe who represents the number of coconuts in his collection by assigning a corresponding clam shell to each coconut

As the sentence clearly says subitizing ability is not counting and needs the more abstract-metaphor understanding, from (A) we only need the ability to match and actual counting for the number of coconut, its subtlety in discussion is of different context, also assign the items to a number of subjects its not the subitizing ability, won’t strengthen or weaken subitizing ability

B)  An individual who, after sustaining a serious head injury, loses the ability to add and subtract numbers

“Lakoff and Nunez have shown that by starting with a tangible collection of objects and then adding or subtracting from that collection allows all of the abstract arithmetic axioms to be construed.”

…..from sentence in para 2, the ability to adding and subtracting numbers is the subitizing ability, however, (B) states that an individual “lose” the ability, so it weakens, not strengthen this ability

C)  A numbering system from an early Chinese civilization that closely resembles a system developed by a Meso-American culture

…..numbering system is an abstract arithmetic development, fit perfectly to para2, strengthen the subitizing ability

D)  A tribe with lifestyles and customs unchanged since the Stone Age whose language contains words which designate only between “few” and “many”

……“few” and “many” is too primitive for the abstract subitizing ability to develop, thus weaken

E)  A nomadic people who keep track of the days of their wandering by making notches in a thighbone

….. same as  (A) , won’t affect the subitizing ability

Q3) The author of the passage would most likely agree with which of the following statements:

Cognitive scientists have since shown that all humans, and even some animals, possess the ability to subitize—that is, to recognize instantly the difference between one, two, and three objects, although Kaufman et al have established that this ability differs from actual counting.  In order to move from mere subitizing to actual counting and arithmetic requires the ability to employ metaphor , according to Lakoff and Nunez. Arithmetic began, contend Lakoff and Nunez, when early humans used metaphor to map from the domain of concrete physical objects to the domain of abstract or symbolic numbers. Lakoff and Nunez have shown that by starting with a tangible collection of objects and then adding or subtracting from that collection allows all of the abstract arithmetic axioms to be construed. The ancient Sumerian tokens, which used symbols to represent actual quantities of items, represent perhaps the first instance of this sort of metaphorical mapping. Indeed, many credit ancient Sumerians with the invention of mathematics.

A)  The discovery of the ability in some chimpanzees to count would not cause cognitive scientists to rethink their position on the nature of mathematics.

counting ability is the base to the development of abstract mathematic or arthimetic, they always relate to each other, so essentially what (A) states is wrong

B)  Cognitive scientists should expect human infants to be able to differentiate up to three objects.

"the ability to subitize—that is, to recognize instantly the difference between one, two, and three objects" , so infants can differentiate objects is indeed the subitizing ability

C)  The ability to subitize requires the same mental faculties as the ability to count and perform arithmetic.

From sentence “In order to move from mere subitizing to actual counting and arithmetic requires the ability to employ metaphor, according to Lakoff and Nunez. Arithmetic began, contend Lakoff and Nunez, when early humans used metaphor to map from the domain of concrete physical objects to the domain of abstract or symbolic numbers.”, .....we just know that to evolve from subitizing to actual counting we need the metaphorical ability, not that these two need "the same mental faculties"

D)  The earliest known use of the metaphorizing capacity in humans involved the mapping of goods onto clay tokens.

“, when early humans used metaphor to map from the domain of concrete physical objects to the domain of abstract or symbolic numbers.”
….the statement to choice  (D)  is of differ from the original sentence in para 2 says, so wrong

E)  Arithmetic axioms, rather than being accepted as inherently true, can be proven by the manipulation of concrete collections of objects.

no proof to arithmetic axioms ever discuss in the passage

weirdcoffeeperson · Answer

OE's please?
Got the second and third one wrong.

8824182855 · Answer

please give correct answers with explanation because there are different answers of question 2 and 3 in show spoiler and show answers.

AnirudhaS · Answer

Q2) The author’s claim about the ability to subitize would be most strengthened by the discovery of which of the following?

A)A Wedda man from a Sri Lankan tribe who represents the number of coconuts in his collection by assigning a corresponding clam shell to each coconut
B)An individual who, after sustaining a serious head injury, loses the ability to add and subtract numbers
C)A numbering system from an early Chinese civilization that closely resembles a system developed by a Meso-American culture
D)A tribe with lifestyles and customs unchanged since the Stone Age whose language contains words which designate only between “few” and “many”
E)A nomadic people who keep track of the days of their wandering by making notches in a thighbone

Let us write out the relavant portion of text - 
 "Finally, in 1970, Denise Schmandt-Besserat unlocked the secret of the tokens. They were accounting tools, with the quantity and type of the good indicated by the pictograph on the piece.

Cognitive scientists have since shown that all humans, and even some animals, possess the ability to subitize—that is, to recognize instantly the difference between one, two, and three objects, although Kaufman et al have established that this ability differs from actual counting."

We can easily come down to A & E. 
A looks good because it the clams serve as a counting tool for coconuts. This is a very strong option.
E is almost there to be honest. The only thing going against E is that to keep track of number of days, you would not use an "accounting tool" per se. Otherwise it is really close. I guess A is stronger than E.

IMO: A

Nirmesh83 · Answer

Q2) The author’s claim about the ability to subitize would be most strengthened by the discovery of which of the following?

A)A Wedda man from a Sri Lankan tribe who represents the number of coconuts in his collection by assigning a corresponding clam shell to each coconut
B)An individual who, after sustaining a serious head injury, loses the ability to add and subtract numbers
C)A numbering system from an early Chinese civilization that closely resembles a system developed by a Meso-American culture
D)A tribe with lifestyles and customs unchanged since the Stone Age whose language contains words which designate only between “few” and “many”
E)A nomadic people who keep track of the days of their wandering by making notches in a thighbone

As per above statement, correct answer needs to strengthened the ability to subitize. It can easily be understood from the passage that ability to subitize(differentiate between objects) is different from ability to do arithmetic. Option B,C,D,E deals with counting as in- Option B talks about,ability to do arithmetic operation,Option C talks about numbering system ,Option D deals with Qty. and Option E deals with number of days .i.e Quantity .
So A is correct Answer.

amathur88 · Answer

Are we sure of the OA's?
This passage was part of the Princeton mock test and the OA for Q2 and Q3 are D and E respectively, although IMO the answers mentioned here are correct

Vivek100 · Answer

Dear Sajjad1994, 
Can you please elaborate question 3???

Posted from my mobile device

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Hi Vivek100 Welcome to GMAT Club! Please read the complete explanation in the post below in the link. https://gmatclub.com/forum/archeologist ... l#p2757626 Thank you

kntombat · Answer

Sajjad1994 , can you share the OE for question 3? 
Thank you.

Sajjad1994 · Answer

OE is not available please read the explanation provided in the post in the link below https://gmatclub.com/forum/archeologist ... l#p2757626 Thank you

rahul2006 · Answer

Sajjad1994

Following is the OE from Princeton Review

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

This is a strengthen question, as indicated by the phrase would be most strengthened by. The task of the question is indicated by the phrase the discovery of which of the following. The subject of the question is the ability to subitize. In order to answer the question, determine what the author states about the subject and evaluate the answer choices, eliminating any choice that does not strengthen the author’s claim. According to the passage, the ability to subitize   to recognize instantly the difference between one, two, and three objects, although Kaufman et al have established that this ability differs from actual counting. In order to move from mere subitizing to actual counting and arithmetic requires the ability to employ metaphor, according to Lakoff and Nunez.

Choice A: No. While representing one thing with another may make this choice seem tempting, it is a memory trap. The example of a man…who represents the number of coconuts in his collection by assigning a corresponding clam shell to each demonstrates a reliance on concrete…objects without any indication of recognizing the difference between quantities.

Choice B: No. This answer choice talks about a loss of ability – the loss of the ability to add and subtract numbers – instead of the ability to subtize, so this answer choice is a reversal.

Choice C: No. The example of a numbering system from an early Chinese civilization that closely resembles a system developed by a Meso-American culture demonstrates systems of actual counting instead of the ability to subtize, so this answer choice is a reversal.

Choice D: Correct. If there were a tribe…whose language contains words which designate only between "few" and "many,” such a limited language would indicate that the tribe can separate the world into only subitized amounts of few and many without having the ability of actual counting. Because this tribe’s language expresses the ability to subtize, but not to actually count, this answer choice strengthens the author’s claim that the ability to subtize… differs from actual counting.

Choice E: No. The example of a nomadic people who keep track of the days of their wandering by making notches in a thighbone demonstrates a method of actual counting and metaphorical mapping instead of the ability to subtize, so this answer choice is a reversal.

The correct answer is choice D.

VerbalBot · Answer

Hello from the GMAT Club VerbalBot!

Thanks to another GMAT Club member, I have just discovered this valuable topic, yet it had no discussion for over a year. I am now bumping it up - doing my job. I think you may find it valuable (esp those replies with Kudos).

Want to see all other topics I dig out? Follow me (click follow button on profile). You will receive a summary of all topics I bump in your profile area as well as via email.

Archeologists excavating sites in the “Fertile Crescent” region of the

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

Archeologists excavating sites in the “Fertile Crescent” region of the

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