OE for reference:
Overview:In this passage you are given various pieces of information about the recent discovery in a glacier of an ancient, well-preserved body of a man. The passage simply makes a number of statements without drawing a conclusion from those statements.
To answer the question associated with this passage, you must decide which of the answer choices is most strongly supported by the information in the passage.
The Correct Answer:C The passage tells us that the man's body was well preserved. It also tells us that the body wouldn't have been well preserved if it hadn't been sealed in the glacier shortly after the man died, or if it had thawed. So we can infer that the man's body was sealed in the glacier shortly after his death, that is, at least 4,000 years ago. We can also infer that this glacier has been continuously frozen for at least the past 4,000 years. Thus, (C) is very strongly supported by the information in the passage.
The Incorrect Answer Choices:A The passage tells us that the artifacts found on the body show that the man lived at least 4,000 years ago. That means that none of those artifacts could have been less than 4,000 years old, since the body, along with its artifacts, had been sealed up, undisturbed from the time the man died. So the artifacts could well be somewhat more than 4,000 years old. Therefore, (A) is not supported by the information in the passage.
B Nothing in the passage tells us anything about how the man died. All we know is that he was on or very near a glacier when he died. So he might have frozen to death, or he might have died from other causes. So (B) is not supported by any information provided in the passage.
D The passage tells us that the body would not still be preserved if it had not been frozen. However, the only thing we know about the artifacts found with the body is that they are probably at least 4,000 years old. The passage tells us nothing that would indicate what those artifacts were made of. Some artifacts, like those made of animal skins, may need to be frozen in order to be preserved. Other artifacts, like those made of stone or metal, might well have been preserved even if they had not been frozen. So, although (D) might be true, the passage does not support it.
E The passage gives us good reason to believe that the climate at the location of the glacier is warmer now than it was 4,000 years ago. But there is no reason to think that changes in temperature at a single spot on the globe are good indicators of changes in the global climate as a whole. So (E) is not supported by the information in the passage.