Self-study
Archaeologist: Conclusion Neanderthals, a human-like species living 60,000 years ago, probably preserved meat by smoking it. █████ ██████ ███ █████ ████ ████ █████ ██ ████ ███████████ ███████████ █ ████ ██ ██████ ███ █████ ████████ █ ███ ██ █████ ███ ████ ███ ███████ ██████ ██ ████ ████ ██ █████ ██ █ ████ █████
Summarize Argument: Phenomenon-Hypothesis
The author hypothesizes that Neanderthals probably smoked their meat. This is based on the fact that burnt lichen and grass have been found in many Neanderthal fireplaces, and fire made from lichen and grass produces lots of smoke, but not as much heat or light as a fire from wood.
Notable Assumptions
The author assumes that the Neanderthals did not burn the lichen and grass for heat, light, or other purposes besides smoking. The author also assumes that Neanderthals would not have used lichen/grass for heat/light if there existed a better material for that purpose.
19.
Which one of the following, ██ █████ █████ ████ ██████ ███ ███████████████ █████████
a
In close proximity ██ ███ ██████████ ████ ██████ ███ █████ ███ █████ ██████████ █████ ████████ █████████ ██████ ████████ ████ ████████ ████ ████ ████ ██████
This could strengthen the argument by showing that Neanderthals burned other material for heat, which suggests lichen and grass were not being burned for heat.
Failed alternate explanation
Failed alternate explanation
Weaken Qs: Answers that try to introduce an alternate explanation, but fall short, or try to explain a different phenomenon.
Strengthen Qs: Answers that try to eliminate an alternate explanation, but fall short, or try to eliminate an explanation for a different phenomenon.
b
In the region ██████████ ███ ███████████ ██████████ ██ █████ ██████ ███ █████ ████ ██████ ██ ██████ ████ █████ ██ ██████ ████ ███████████ ██ ███████ ████ ██ █████ ████ █████████ ██████ █████ ████
This raises the possibility that Neanderthals burned lichen/grass for heat/light. Although wood can produce more heat/light, (B) tells us the Neanderthals didn’t have access to it. So, they might have used lichen/grass for heat/light because it was the best available material.
Alternate explanation
Alternate explanation
Weaken: Introduce or support an alternate explanation for a phenomenon.
Strengthen: Helps to eliminate an alternate explanation for a phenomenon.
c
Some of the ██████████ ██████████ █████ ██████ ███ ██ ███████ ██ █████ ██████ ██ ███ ████████ ██ ████ ████ █████████ ███ ██ █████ ████ ███ ██ ████ ████ ███████ ██ ████ ████ █████████
This suggests lichen was brought long distances. This is consistent with the theory that it was burned for its smoke.
d
There is clear ████████ ████ ██ █████ ████ ██████ ██ ████████████ ██████ ████ ████████ ████ ██████ █████ ███ █████████ ███████ ██ ██████████ ████ █████ ████ ███████ ███
This concerns other groups living more recently that developed other methods of preserving meat. But the argument is about what conclusions we can draw about the Neanderthals who used the fireplaces around which burnt lichen and grass have been found.
Failed alternate explanation
Failed alternate explanation
Weaken Qs: Answers that try to introduce an alternate explanation, but fall short, or try to explain a different phenomenon.
Strengthen Qs: Answers that try to eliminate an alternate explanation, but fall short, or try to eliminate an explanation for a different phenomenon.
e
The ability to ████████ ████ ███████ ███████ █████ ████ ████ ███ ███████████ ██████ ████ ██████████ ██ ████ ███████ ██ ████████
If anything, this strengthens the argument by suggesting Neanderthals had a strong reason to preserve meat by smoking.
Directionally wrong
Directionally wrong
Answers that, if they have any effect, do the opposite of what we want (weaken when we're trying to strengthen, or strengthen when we're trying to weaken).