How is E a better answer than D?

@JeremyG, Great question. The question says, "It can be inferred from the passage that the author would be most likely to agree with which one of the following?" (D) says, "A long-term peaceful association among the groups that formed the Haudenosaune Confederacy was an important precondition for the use of wampum as a means of communication." The problem with (D) is that it's saying that a long-term peaceful arrangement among the people in the Confederacy was absolutely necessary for using wampum as a means of communication. However, this is contradicted in the content of the passage. We know that wampum is used as a form of communication before the Confederacy came to be, so there's no way that a peaceful association is a precondition for using wampum as a means of communication. Thus, we can get rid of (D). (E) says, "Present day interpretations of the significance of some of the symbols used in wampum belts are not conclusive." The question asked us to make an inference based on the passage for what we think the author would agree with. In looking at the passage and examining the various examples of the wampum belt symbols, we see that much of the symbolization is described by the author in relatively weak terms, like in line 50 ("Council fires, possibly indicating talks in progress") and lines 52-54 ("Lines between humanlike figures seem to have indicated the current state of relations between peoples"). The vague language used here by the author implies that there's a fair amount of uncertainty regarding the meaning of these symbols. As a result, (E) is supported by the passage and is the correct answer choice. Does this make sense? Let us know if you have any more questions!

Hi Ravi, that's very helpful, thanks for the clear and detailed explanation.

@JeremyG, you're welcome! Happy to help!

Thank you I had the same question that was tricky