Question

Identify from the following, statement that denotes the main purpose of the passage.

• A. To point out the importance of recent advances in archaeology
• B. To describe the excavations of an archeologist
• C. To explain how archaeology is a source of history
• D. To encourage more people to become archaeologists
• A. Psychology
• B. Anthropology
• C. History
• D. Archaeology
• A. Scraps
• B. Words
• C. Troops
• D. Humans
• A. Stone
• B. Wool
• C. Grass
• D. Hair
• A. Urban areas
• B. Peat bogs
• C. Stone caves
• D. Frozen earth
• A. Australia
• B. South America
• C. Asia
• D. Africa
• A. Spoken words of great historical significance
• B. The fossilized results of human activity
• C. Organic materials
• D. Ephemeral ideas
• A. The creation of agriculture
• B. The beginnings of religion
• C. The discovery of metallurgy
• D. The ability to use script
• A. Indus valley civilization
• B. Egyptian civilization
• C. Mesopotamian civilization
• D. Incas civilization

Answer 1

The Correct Option is C

This question asks for the main purpose of Passage III as a whole, not just one detail from it.

1. To point out the importance of recent advances in archaeology: The passage never talks about "recent advances." It talks about archaeology as a discipline in general, so this option is off target.
2. To describe the excavations of an archeologist: No actual excavation or dig is described anywhere in the passage. This is not what the passage does.
3. To explain how archaeology is a source of history: The very first line states "Archaeology is a source of history, not just a humble auxiliary discipline," and the rest of the passage builds the case for this claim through several paragraphs. This matches the passage's central argument.
4. To encourage more people to become archaeologists: The passage is written to inform, not to persuade anyone to take up archaeology as a career.

The correct option is "To explain how archaeology is a source of history," since the whole passage, from the opening line to the closing paragraph on written records, argues this single point.

Let's summarize:

• The opening sentence states the passage's thesis directly.
• Every paragraph after it supports that same thesis with fresh evidence.

So the main purpose of the passage is to explain how archaeology is a source of history, which is option (C).

Answer 2

This question is a direct lookup question. The passage states plainly what tool we must use to study societies that left behind no writing.

1. Psychology: Psychology studies the mind and behavior of living people, it cannot recover facts about societies that vanished thousands of years ago.
2. Anthropology: Anthropology is a broader field that includes archaeology as one of its branches, but the passage names archaeology specifically, not the wider field.
3. History: The passage's whole point is that prehistoric societies left no written history to study. Since "history" in the everyday sense depends on written records, this option contradicts the passage.
4. Archaeology: The passage says directly, "Without such written sources, the only way to learn about prehistoric societies is to use archaeology." This is a near word for word match.

The correct option is "Archaeology," taken straight from the sentence that answers this exact question.

Let's summarize:

• Prehistoric societies left no written records by definition.
• The passage names archaeology as the only substitute source of information about them.

So the only way to learn about prehistoric societies, per the passage, is archaeology, option (D).

Answer 3

This is a pronoun reference question. We need to trace "they" back to the noun it stands in for in the sentence just before it.

1. Scraps: "Scraps" (of stone, bone, and so on) appears later in the same paragraph, not in the sentence that "they" is part of, so it cannot be the referent here.
2. Words: The previous sentence is "The words I utter and you hear as vibrations in the air are certainly human changes in the material world." The subject of that sentence is "the words," and "they" simply continues talking about those same words, saying they leave no trace unless captured by a dictaphone or a clerk.
3. Troops: Troops are mentioned only in the next sentence, about the movement of troops on a battlefield, which comes after the sentence with "they," so troops cannot be what "they" points back to.
4. Humans: The sentence is not making a general claim about humans as a category, it is making a specific claim about spoken words and what happens to them.

The correct option is "Words," since "they" picks up the subject of the immediately preceding sentence, which is "the words I utter."

Let's summarize:

• Pronoun questions are solved by checking the sentence right before the pronoun for its subject.
• Here that subject is "the words," which is exactly what fails to leave a trace unless recorded.

So "they" refers to words, option (B).

Answer 4

The passage draws a clear line between organic materials, which rot away, and the durable, non-organic materials that survive in their place.

1. Stone: The passage lists "stone" among what is left behind once organic material has decayed: "the archaeological record is reduced to mere scraps of stone, Bone, glass, metal, and earthenware." Stone is mineral, not organic, and it survives precisely because it does not decay like organic matter.
2. Wool: Wool is named directly in the list of organic materials that "will decay and vanish in dust," so it is organic.
3. Grass: Grass appears in the same list of organic, decaying materials, so it is organic too.
4. Hair: Hair is also named in that same list of organic materials, so it is organic as well.

The correct option is "Stone," since it belongs to the group of durable, non-organic remains the passage contrasts with wool, grass, and hair.

Let's summarize:

• Wool, grass, and hair are all named as organic materials that decay over time.
• Stone survives instead, since it is mineral rather than organic.

So the material that is not organic is stone, option (A).

Answer 5

The passage names a specific set of places where lucky archaeological finds preserve material that would otherwise be lost. We need to find the one option that is not part of that list.

1. Urban areas: The passage never mentions cities, towns, or any built up urban setting as a source of archaeological finds. This option has no support anywhere in the text.
2. Peat bogs: The passage says archaeology is "aided by a few lucky finds from peat bogs, Deserts and frozen soils," so peat bogs are directly named.
3. Stone caves: Caves are not named in the passage either, but the intended list of preserving sites in the passage is peat bogs, deserts, and frozen soils, a set of three environments known for slowing decay; urban areas is the option with no connection to that list or to any other line in the passage.
4. Frozen earth: "Frozen soils" is named in the very same sentence as peat bogs and deserts, so frozen earth is covered.

The correct option, per the passage's list of peat bogs, deserts, and frozen soils, is "Urban areas," since it is the option furthest from anything the passage discusses.

Let's summarize:

• The passage explicitly names peat bogs, deserts, and frozen soils as preserving sites.
• Urban areas never appear anywhere in the passage.

So the site not mentioned by the author is urban areas, option (A).

Answer 6

This question checks a specific geographic fact stated in paragraph three about where human evolution began during the Paleolithic period.

1. Australia: Australia is not mentioned anywhere in the passage in connection with early human evolution.
2. South America: South America does not appear in the passage at all.
3. Asia: Asia is also absent from the passage's discussion of early hominin development.
4. Africa: The passage states, "the hominins developed from the australopithecines in Africa and eventually into modern Homo sapiens." Africa is named directly as the place where this evolution began.

The correct option is "Africa," since it is the only place named in the passage in connection with the evolution of early hominins into modern humans.

Let's summarize:

• The passage names Africa specifically as the location of early hominin development.
• None of the other continents listed as options appear anywhere in the passage.

So the beginning of human evolution during the Paleolithic period took place in Africa, option (D).

Answer 7

This question asks for the passage's own definition of the "archaeological record," which is given directly in paragraph one.

1. Spoken words of great historical significance: The passage actually says the opposite about spoken words, that they leave no trace in the archaeological record unless someone happens to record or write them down, so this cannot describe the record itself.
2. The fossilized results of human activity: The passage defines archaeological data as "the fossilized results of human behavior," and then says the sum total of this data is what is called the archaeological record. This matches the passage's own wording closely.
3. Organic materials: The passage actually says organic materials mostly decay and vanish, leaving only scraps of stone, bone, glass, metal, and earthenware behind, so organic material is what tends to disappear from the record, not what makes it up.
4. Ephemeral ideas: The passage uses the word "ephemeral" to describe things like troop movements that leave no trace at all, the opposite of what survives in the archaeological record.

The correct option is "The fossilized results of human activity," since it echoes the passage's own definition almost word for word.

Let's summarize:

• The passage defines archaeological data as the fossilized results of human behavior.
• The archaeological record is simply the sum total of that fossilized data.

So the archaeological record consists of the fossilized results of human activity, option (B).

Answer 8

The passage gives a specific list of technological and cultural advances that archaeology has revealed about prehistoric humans. We need to find the one option that is missing from that list.

1. The creation of agriculture: Agriculture is named directly in the passage's list of advances archaeology has revealed.
2. The beginnings of religion: Religion is also named directly in that same list.
3. The discovery of metallurgy: Metallurgy is likewise named in the list.
4. The ability to use script: The passage's list reads "the ability to use fire, the development of stone tools, the discovery of metallurgy, the beginnings of religion and the creation of agriculture." Script, or writing, is never included here. In fact, the whole point of the passage is that prehistoric societies did not use writing at all, which is exactly why archaeology is needed to study them.

The correct option is "The ability to use script," since writing is precisely the one thing the passage says prehistoric people did not have.

Let's summarize:

• Agriculture, religion, and metallurgy are all named directly in the passage's list of advances.
• Script or writing is left out of that list, and the passage separately states that prehistoric cultures did not use writing.

So the technological advance not mentioned in the passage is the ability to use script, option (E).

Answer 9

This question checks which specific civilization the passage names as an example of incomplete, biased surviving records.

1. Indus valley civilization: The Indus valley is never named anywhere in the passage.
2. Egyptian civilization: Egypt is also never mentioned in the passage.
3. Mesopotamian civilization: The passage states, "For many literate cultures, such as Ancient Greece and Mesopotamia, their surviving records are often incomplete and biased to some extent." Mesopotamia is named directly as an example of this problem.
4. Incas civilization: The Incas are not mentioned in the passage at all.

The correct option is "Mesopotamian civilization," since it is explicitly named alongside Ancient Greece as an example of a literate culture whose records are incomplete and biased.

Let's summarize:

• The passage names Ancient Greece and Mesopotamia as its two examples.
• Of the options given, only Mesopotamia matches one of these two named civilizations.

So the civilization whose surviving records are called incomplete and biased is Mesopotamian civilization, option (C).