Reading comp PrepTest 104 · Section 2 · Question 24

Passage

Questions 22-26  .        In The Dynamics of Apocalypse , John Lowe  . attempts to solve the mystery of the Remaining source text redacted.
Passage walkthrough
Passage Summary

Topic: Social Sciences


Paragraph 1

  • Paragraph note
    • Lowe's premises on the collapse of Mayan civilization (uses dates that new monuments were created to establish timeline)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Lowe's view on the chronology of the collapse of Mayan civilization:
      • Mayans continued to create monuments from 672-751, but they stopped expanding to new territories (fifth sentence)
      • Mayans with long-standing alliances began feuding from 751-790 (seventh sentence)
      • In Classic Mayan cities, the death rate exceeded the birth rate from 790-830 (eighth sentence)
      • New monuments stopped being built after 830, and the Mayan civilization collapsed by 930 (last sentence)
    • Comparison to the previous researchers of Mayan civilization:
      • Both used the dates monuments were created to make a step-by-step account of how the Mayan civilization fell (third sentence)
    • Comparison in Mayan population:
      • The death rate in Mayan cities was greater than the birthrate (eighth sentence)
    • Author's attitude: "detailed examination" (second sentence); "assumes" (fourth sentence)

Paragraph 2

  • Paragraph note
    • Lowe's explanation of the collapse (population growth, decreased agricultural production, too many elites, warfare)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Cause-and-effect relationships, according to Lowe:
      • Population growth (especially in the elite class) caused a need for more farming, which caused a decline in agricultural productivity (second through fourth sentences)
      • The growing elite class caused increased demands for monuments and luxuries, which caused a need for laborers who would otherwise be working in agricultural fields (fifth sentence)
      • Both caused Mayan states to war over laborers and food, which caused refugees to flee and the domino-like collapse of different Mayan states (sixth and last sentences)
    • Author's attitude: "plausible explanation" (first sentence)

Paragraph 3

  • Paragraph note
    • Author on Lowe's explanation (difficult to know whether his data are accurate)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Author's view:
      • Lowe's explanation assumes that he's correct about the timeline, but it's difficult to know whether he actually is (first and second sentences)
      • Better data could come out and alter our understanding of the timeline and undermine his explanation (third sentence)
    • Example of how better data could undermine Lowe's explanation, according to the author:
      • If someone proves that Mayans stuck around at sites long after they stopped carving new monuments, that would disprove his assumption that the end of new monuments meant that Mayan abandoned sites (last sentence)
    • Author's attitude: "central flaw" (first sentence); "rests on the assumption" (first sentence); "difficult to know" (second sentence); "especially" (second sentence); "a hypothesis can be tested only against the best available data" (second sentence); "quite possible" (third sentence); "might be radically altered by better data" (third sentence); "might well be disproved" (last sentence)

Main Point: John Lowe establishes a plausible explanation of how the Classic Mayan civilization collapsed based on a detailed examination of the archaeological record, but this explanation could be undermined or altered by better data.

Key Lines?

Paragraph 1, Sentence 3 (P1, S3) - Lowe's assumption

P2, S2 - Lowe's explanation introduced

P3, S2-3 - Author's commentary on Lowe's explanation

Meta-Structure?

Phenomenon/Explanation - The Phenomenon/Explanation Meta-Structure best fits this passage.* In such a passage, the author will describe a fact, behavior, or situation before outlining one or more explanations of that fact, behavior, or situation. Here, the author describes Lowe's take on the fall of the Classic Mayan civilization (we'll refer to this as the "Mayan civilization" moving forward) before describing and commenting on Lowe's explanation of that fall.

The main point is generally the explanation when a passage utilizes a Phenomenon/Explanation Meta-Structure. However, if the author quibbles with the explanation, then the main point the author's opinion of the explanation. Here, the author calls the explanation "plausible" (P2, S1) before commenting on its "central flaw" (P3, S1). So, we incorporated the author's commentary into our anticipated main point.

*You certainly could have called this a Question/Answer passage. You could have even used a Critical Meta-Structure, like Criticizing a Viewpoint or Correcting the Record. That said, even though this passage starts like a Reporting a Viewpoint passage, the author's commentary in the last paragraph makes that Meta-Structure an inapt description of this passage.

Cause and effect: The most prominent minor Meta-Structure in the passage is the cause-and-effect chain the author describes in the second paragraph. Just to simplify those for us, we outlined these relationships here:

  • Population Growth → Increased Farming Needs → Decreased Agricultural Productivity → Warfare Over Food and Laborers
  • Population Growth Among Elites → More Laborers for Monuments and Luxuries → Decreased Labor Available for Farming → Warfare Over Food and Laborers

Last Thoughts?

This is a detail-heavy passage, no? I mean, there’s a long chronology of the fall of the Mayan civilization and many cause-and-effect relationships that posit how the civilization fell. So we should definitley expect a lot of Minor Point questions, right? Well, keep this in mind when you read the “Key Takeaway” for the last question.

 

Question prompt

Which one of the Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: E

The notes below walk through why it fits the stem and how to eliminate the rest.

Question Type

Social Science

Strategy Overview

Review the relevant part of the passage and notes, if necessary, to anticipate key features of the assumption Lowe makes about the relationship between monument construction and Classic Mayan cities

Answer Anticipation

These Application/Analogous Situation questions closely resemble Parallel Reasoning questions in Logical Reasoning. We want to find the answer choice that is structurally similar to the element we're asked to analogize. The correct answer won't have the same subject matter as the passage; instead, it will feature similar characteristics or themes as the element from the passage. Therefore, we should start by reviewing the key features of the element we're asked to parallel.In this case, we're asked to find a situation that's analogous to the assumption Lowe makes about the relationship between monument construction and Classic Mayan cities. This pertains to monuments, so our note for the first paragraph ("Lowe's premises on the collapse of Mayan civilization (uses dates that new monuments were created to establish timeline)") should point us to that paragraph. Upon review, we can see that "Lowe assumes that once new monuments ceased to be built, a site had been abandoned" (P1, S4).So, let's abstract that out a bit since the correct answer won't be about monuments or site abandonment. Lowe assumes that because the Mayans aren't making new additions, they abandoned the whole site. So, we'll want to look for an answer choice where someone assumes that because new additions aren't being made, the whole endeavor is being abandoned. This anticipation may sound rather broad, but we want our anticipation to be general for these questions. This will help us assess the elements or themes of the answer choices independent of their subject matter.

Answer choices

  1. A
    A person assumes that Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited

    (A) Does this answer choice present a situation where someone assumes that because new additions aren't being made, the whole endeavor is being abandoned?

    Not quite, but this is understandably a popular answer choice. This answer choice presents a situation where new additions are (probably) not being made. After all, we usually encounter a "shortage of fresh produce on the shelves of a grocery store" when the store stops replenishing the produce.

    To parallel Lowe's assumption, the person would need to assume that the grocery store abandoned the whole fresh-produce endeavor. Like, they've given up on selling fresh produce and will never sell produce again. This person doesn't make that assumption, though. They simply assume that the lack of produce is due to poor weather conditions. They don't say that the grocery store will never try to stock produce again.

     (A) would be an attractive answer choice if your anticipation was overly abstract (e.g., assuming that a certain explanation must be true even though multiple explanations are possible). Even those who made a more precise anticipation might want to keep this one in contention. Still, we'll eventually have to eliminate this one because the person never assumes the grocery store will abandon the produce-selling game altogether.

  2. B
    A person assumes that Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited

    (B) Does this answer choice present a situation where someone assumes that because new additions aren't being made, the whole endeavor is being abandoned?

    Nope. This doesn't describe a situation where new additions aren't being made. An analogous situation might involve someone assuming that a movie theater is no longer operating because they stopped updating the list of movie titles on the marquee. This answer choice, on the other hand, just presents a person who assumes that films must be foreign because they've never heard of them before.

  3. C
    A person assumes that Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited

    (C) Does this answer choice present a situation where someone assumes that because new additions aren't being made, the whole endeavor is being abandoned?

    No. This doesn't describe a situation where new additions aren't being made. Quite the opposite — there are many new additions here! The entire menu has changed.

    A situation that's analogous to Lowe's assumption might involve a person assuming a restaurant is permanently closed because it stopped updating its menu. This answer choice, on the other hand, describes a person who bases their assumption on the fact that everything on the menu has changed. 

  4. D
    A person assumes that Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited

    (D) Does this answer choice present a situation where someone assumes that because new additions aren't being made, the whole endeavor is being abandoned?

    Negative. Like (C), this answer choice doesn't present a situation where new additions aren't being made. In fact, this person bases their assumption on the fact that a change has been made — there's a new name on the sign.

    If this were correct, it might have described someone who assumes that a corporation went out of business because they haven't updated their signage or logo. On the other hand, this answer choice describes a situation where someone updated a sign.

  5. E
    A person assumes a Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E matches the stem

    (E) Does this answer choice present a situation where someone assumes that because new additions aren't being made, the whole endeavor is being abandoned?

    Yes, this gets the closest to that anticipation. In this case, the friend stops making new additions to their stamp book — they stop purchasing new stamps. From this, a person assumes that the friend has sold her stamp collection. That isn't quite the same as "abandoning the whole stamp-collection endeavor," but it's close. Someone selling all their stamps would suggest they've moved on from stamp collection and will now pursue a different hobby. Let's eliminate any remaining contenders and select (E).

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A 13%
  2. B 2%
  3. C 6%
  4. D 10%
  5. E Credited 69%

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