PT154 S2 Q16 ExplanationArchaeologist: The people who lived

Answer choices, explained

1. A

   Weakens5% picked this

   The pits contain certain tools not found in dwellings or at

   This makes it sound like these trash pits actually do tell us some interesting things about the possessions of the people who lived nearby. We just discovered new tools they had!

   5%
2. B

   Correct71% picked this

   Scavengers routinely salvaged the most durable items from the

   Why this is right

   This adds to the force of the author's evidence: That pile of rubbish? You're not gonna find anything in there. Erosion has had really destructive effects on it. Also, the stuff that was durable that might have still been worth finding has already been looted by scavengers. This answer helps shoot down a potential objection: "couldn't there be some stuff in the trash pile that erosion hasn't ruined?" According to this answer, "Nah ... the durable stuff got stolen from the pits already. Scavengers be scavenging, amirite?" If we were bothered that this felt like a new premise rather than an augmentation of the current evidence, we might notice that the author did say "among other reasons, the pits have been subject to erosion".

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

   71%
3. C

   Weak / Unclear Impact8% picked this

   The soil surrounding the rubbish pits was sometimes removed for the

   Words with minimal force like "some, sometimes, can, may, might, not all" are almost always wrong on Strengthen, Weaken, and Paradox. This answer makes it sound like the soil around the pits might tell us that the people made bricks? Or is it saying that more modern humans have used this soil for bricks? We can't tell. Even if it's talking about the original inhabitants of the dwellings, this answer has nothing to do with whether or not the trash in the pit is still in good enough shape to teach us anything about the people hwo lived there.

   8%
4. D

   Weakens, if Anything5% picked this

   The pits in which the rubbish was deposited had earlier been used by this group of

   Mainly this answer just makes me think less of these people -- you converted your graveyard into your landfill? Someone at that village council meeting was like, "Well ... a graveyard is kinda like a trash can for humans!" This answer has no clear impact or if anything it suggests that going through the rubbish in these pits we might also stumble across some remains of the people who lived there. Since people are often buried with some of their possessions, this would increase the likelihood of learning something by going through these pits.

   5%
5. E

   Weaker Than Correct Answer12% picked this

   Certain types of items were never discarded by members of this

   This answer seems to somewhat strengthen. Learning that certain possessions would never be found in the trash can help the author say "this trash will tell us little about their possessions". But the weakness of "certain types of items" leaves room for there to still be plenty of stuff that did go in the trash that we could learn from. This doesn't have as much pessimistic impact on the usefulness of these trash sites as (B) does -- it makes it sounds like people have already beaten us to the site and stolen all the good stuff we would have wanted to find. This answer is more like, "you won't be able to learn about all their possessions from the trash"(since some things were never trashed).

   12%