When a stone is trimmed by a mason

Answer choices

1. A

   No Impact12% picked this

   Rock varnish itself contains some organic

   The author wasn't assuming that rock varnish was purely inorganic matter, so this answer can't hurt her argument. The organic matter that was dated at 1,000 years lies beneath the varnish, not within it, so this answer isn't offering some alternate explanation for the organic matter.

   12%
2. B

   Correct69% picked this

   The reuse of ancient trimmed stones was common in the Andes both before

   Why this is right

   This allows us to argue that "even though the stones used in the monument are over 1,000 years old, the monument itself isn't over 1,000 years old. It may have been built after 1492." After all, it was a common practice to reuse ancient trimmed stones. So, the Andean people might have built this monument in 1600 A.D., using stones that were originally trimmed in 900 A.D.

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

   69%
3. C

   No Impact1% picked this

   The Andean monument bears a striking resemblance to monuments found in ancient sites

   Comparing how this monument looks visually to monuments in Western Asia doesn't tell us anything about when this monument was built. If anything, the fact that this monument has similarities to monuments in ancient Asia would make this monument seem like it might be old, which would just strengthen the author's conclusion.

   1%
4. D

   No Impact6% picked this

   The earliest written reference to the Andean monument dates

   Knowing when writers first wrote about the monument does not provide any clue as to when this monument was built. It's possible that when the monument was built that written language didn't even exist for the culture that made it. So we would never base our estimation of age on when someone first wrote about something.

   6%
5. E

   No Impact11% picked this

   Rock varnish forms very slowly, if at all, on trimmed stones that are stored in

   This answer provides a potential causal mechanism by which one could delay the onset of rock varnish. If that were the case with the stones in this monument, it would mean that stones were even older than the author already thinks they are. Once the varnish started accumulating, it trapped whatever organic particles were on the rock's surface, and since there is organic material that's over 1,000 years old trapped under the varnish, we know the varnish started accumulating over 1,000 years ago.

   11%