People cannot devote themselves

Answer choices

1. A

   Too Strong22% picked this

   whenever a society has plentiful resources, some members of that society devote themselves to the

   The author said that when plentiful resources are present, people have leisure. Were we told that whenever people have leisure, some members of society study natural processes? No, it said that leisure was required for people to devote themselves to studying natural processes. This is acting like leisure guarantees people will devote themselves. That was not said.

   22%
2. B

   Too Strong: cannot be cultivated8% picked this

   plants cannot be cultivated by someone lacking theoretical knowledge of the principles of plant

   This is an extreme idea the author wasn't defending. She definitely thinks that early agriculturalists needed to discover how plants work, but it could be practical knowledge, not theoretical. Either way, this is not close to the Main Conclusion which should be "agricultural developed in a societies with plentiful resources".

   8%
3. C

   Correct65% picked this

   agriculture first began in societies that at some time in their history

   Why this is right

   This rebuts the anthropologists position. Agriculture didn't begin under conditions of drought and hunger. It began under conditions of plenty. How is it supported? - developing agriculture happened from people having lots of time to study complex relationships in natural processes, which requires leisure, which requires plentiful resources.

   Skill tested: Main Conclusion · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.

   65%
4. D

   Unsupported Comparison1% picked this

   early agricultural societies knew more about the natural sciences than did

   The author isn't building any case about "who knows more about natural sciences": early agricultural societies or early nonagricultural societies.

   1%
5. E

   Out of Scope: by accident4% picked this

   early societies could have discovered by accident how the plants they cultivated

   This feels like the opposite of what the author is presenting. She's saying that learning how to cultivate plants required deliberate study, not lucky accident.

   4%