PT151.S1.P2.Q13

PrepTest 151 - Section 1 - Passage 2 - Question 13

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P1

Through years of excavations and careful analysis of her finds around Krasnyi Yar in Kazakhstan, archaeologist Sandra Olsen has assembled what may be evidence of the earliest known people to have domesticated and ridden horses, a momentous development in human history. ███

Intro to Topic · Olsen found evidence of earliest domestication of horses for riding?
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Phenomenon · Large number of horse bones in pit houses of the Botai people
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Phenomenon · Unclear if horses were domesticated or wild
Cannot tell difference just by looking at the bones.
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Method · Statistical tabulations
Olsen used statistics to find patterns that might distinguish between domestication or wild.
P2

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Exclude Alternate Hypothesis · Domesticated horses for food?
Because if domesticated for food, wouldn't find that many fully grown male horses and most of the bones were exactly that.
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Alternate Hypothesis · Wild horses hunted for food?
That would explain the large proportion of males since hunters like to hunt bigger animals for more food.
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Exclude Alternate Hypothesis · Proportion of adult males is too high
Because if the Botai hunted horses, they would target families, not groups of males.
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Phenomenon · Why were young males not culled?
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Hypothesis · Because the horses were domesticated for riding
P3

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Evidence for Hypothesis · Remains include full skeletons
This is also inconsistent with the hunting hypothesis because hunters presumably would have only brought the meat and not the full skeletons back.
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Evidence for Hypothesis · Burial patterns
Horses were buried in carefully arranged patterns which suggests a closer relationship with the Botai, consistent with the riding hypothesis.
Passage Style
Phenomenon-hypothesis (RC)
Single position
Show answer
13.

Which one of the following ████ ██████████ █████████ ███ ████████████ ██ ███ ████████

a

A set of ████████ ██ █████████ ███ ████ ███████ ████████████ ██ ███ ████████ ███ ██████████

(A) misses the emphasis on Olsen’s hypothesis, which is presented at the beginning. The author doesn’t merely evaluate different explanations for the findings at the Botai sites. Rather, the author focuses on Olsen’s explanation and shows how Olsen reasons her way to that explanation.

24%
b

A set of ████████ ████████████ ██ ██████████ ███ ████ █ ███████ ██████████ ██ █████ ████ █████ █████████████

The author doesn’t start with observations followed by a general conclusion. Rather, the author starts with Olsen’s hypothesis and then describes the findings that support her hypothesis.

14%
c

A general principle ██ █████████ ███ ████ ████████ ██ ███ ███████████ ██ ███ █████████ ███ ██████

There’s no general principle presented in the beginning or applications of that principle later. We start with Olsen’s hypothesis and then go into the evidence supporting her findings.

1%
d

A hypothesis is ████████ ███ ████ █ ████ ██ █████████ ██ ███████ ██ ████ ██████████ ██ ██████████

This best captures the organization. Olsen’s hypothesis is outlined at the beginning. Her line of reasoning to support that hypothesis is developed in the rest of the passage. That line of reasoning includes discussion of her findings and the implications of her findings in P2, as well as additional evidence in P3.

59%
e

A proposition is ██████ ███ ████ █████████ ████ ███ ███ ███████ ███ ███████████ ███ ███████████

We don’t get arguments for and against a proposition. We get Olsen’s hypothesis followed by the evidence and reasoning supporting her hypothesis.

2%

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