Self-study
P1
In The Dynamics of Apocalypse, John Lowe attempts to solve the mystery of the collapse of the Classic Mayan civilization. ███
Phenomenon ·
Collapse of Classic Mayan civilization
Lowe's methodology ·
Uses monument construction dates to estimate when Mayan sites were abandoned
Evidence ·
Monument dates show that Mayan expansion stopped, followed by political troubles
Evidence ·
Death rate outstripped birth rate
Evidence ·
Monument construction stopped, followed by Mayan collapse
P2
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Hypothesis ·
Population growth caused agricultural decline and Mayan collapse
Growth put stress on farmland while diverting labor away from farming; resulting food scarcity caused conflict
P3
██ █████ ██ █ ███████ ████ ██ ██████ ████████████ ██ ██ ████ ███ ██████ ███████ █████ ██ ███ ██████████ ████ ███ █████████ ████████ ██████ █ ████ ███████ ██ ███ ███ ████████ ██████████ ████████ ██ ██ █████████ ██ ████ ███ ██████████ ███ ██████████████ ██████ ████████ ████████ █████████ ██████████ ██ █ ███████ ████████████ ████ ██ ███ ████████ ███ █ ██████████ ███ ██ ██████ ████ ███████ ███ ████ █████████ █████ ██ ██ █████ ████████ ████ ███ █████████████ ██ ███ ████████ █████ ██ █████████ ███████ ██ ██████ █████ ███
Criticism ·
Evidence for hypothesis may be unreliable or incomplete
Hypothetical example ·
of further evidence that would weaken hypothesis
Passage Style
Critique or debate
Phenomenon-hypothesis (RC)
25.
It can be inferred from ███ ███████ ████ ███ ██████ █████ ████████ ███ ██████ ████ ████ ██ █████████ █ ████████████ ██████████ ██ ███ ██████ ████████ ██ ███████ █████ ████████████ ██
a
daringly innovative but ██████
b
generally accepted but ████████████
This is the best answer. There’s reason to think the method is generally accepted, because other investigators have used it. In addition, the author thinks the method is questionable for the reasons described in the last paragraph.
c
very reliable but ████████
The author doesn’t think the method is very reliable. The last paragraph points out a flaw.
d
unscientific but effective
The author doesn’t suggest the technique is “unscientific.” Although she points out a flaw in the method in the last paragraph, that doesn’t mean she thinks it’s not scientific. Also, she doesn’t indicate that the method is effective.
e
unconventional but brilliant
This doesn’t capture the author’s criticism of the method in the last paragraph.