PrepTest 158

Robin would obviously disagree that the distinction made between nomadic and sedentary cultures is "illicit." But we don't know whether Kendall would agree that it's erroneous to classify an ancient culture as "nomadic" or "sedentary." Kendall may think these two classifications are completely acceptable. All we know is that Kendall doesn't think we can infer whether an ancient culture is nomadic or sedentary from the durability of its artifacts. Since we don't know Kendall's opinion on (A), we can eliminate it.

Argument or Facts:
Argument

Valid or Flawed:
Flawed

Question Type:
Argument Exchange (Point at Issue)

Passage Summary:
Robin says archaeologists study artifacts to determine whether ancient cultures were nomadic or sedentary. If the artifacts are durable, then the culture was probably sedentary.

Kendall points out that the artifacts were largely influenced by which materials were available.

Strategy Overview:

1. Argument or facts for both speakers? If argument for one or both speakers, identify the conclusion and premises
2. Anticipate the issue that speakers disagree over. Helps to focus on topics both speakers discuss
3. Use anticipation to select the answer choice that:
1. One speaker agrees with, and
2. One speaker disagrees with

Answer Anticipation:
Point at Issue questions ask us to find an answer choice one speaker agrees with and the other disagrees with. To anticipate what this answer choice will say, we can identify a topic both speakers discuss.

In this argument, both Robin and Kendall discuss the artifacts made by ancient cultures. Robin argues that if the artifacts are made to last a long time, then the culture was probably sedentary rather than nomadic. On the other hand, Kendall points out that the artifacts were largely influenced by which materials were available to the ancient culture. So, if the artifacts were made to last a long time, then the culture could have just been surrounded by durable materials — we wouldn't know whether the culture was nomadic or sedentary.

So, we should look for an answer choice that discusses whether we can infer that an ancient culture was sedentary or nomadic from the durability of its artifacts. Robin would agree that we can infer that an ancient culture was sedentary if their artifacts were durable, while Kendall would disagree with such an inference.

Answer Choice Explanation:
This is close to our anticipation that the correct answer will discuss whether we can infer that an ancient culture was sedentary or nomadic from the durability of its artifacts. Therefore, we can be confident that this answer choice is correct.

After all, Robin would agree with this claim. Robin says that we can determine whether ancient cultures were nomadic or sedentary from the durability of their artifacts. Robin says that if the artifacts are durable rather than temporary, then the culture was probably sedentary. Since Robin argues that we can determine whether ancient cultures were sedentary or nomadic, we can infer that Robin would agree that if the artifacts are temporary rather than durable, then the culture was probably nomadic.

Kendall points out that the artifacts were largely influenced by which materials were available. So, Kendall doesn't think we can determine whether an ancient culture was nomadic or sedentary from their artifacts. A culture with short-lived artifacts may have just been surrounded by flimsy materials. Therefore, Kendall would disagree with this claim.

Since Robin would agree with (B) and Kendall would disagree with it, we can select (B) and advance to the following question.

Key Takeaway:
To anticipate what this answer choice will say, we can identify a topic both speakers discuss. As you assess each answer choice, check whether it brings up a topic both speakers discuss. If an answer choice brings up a topic not addressed by one or both speakers, we can eliminate it.

Neither Robin nor Kendall addresses if we can determine whether a culture was nomadic or sedentary from "evidence other than the intended durability" of its artifacts. Both limit their arguments to the durability of the culture's artifacts. So, we don't know whether Robin or Kendall would agree with this claim. We can eliminate it.

Neither Robin nor Kendall addresses if the distinction between nomadic and sedentary cultures is "as important as many archaeologists thought." Neither speaker addresses what other archaeologists think. Since we don't know whether Robin or Kendall would agree with this claim, we can cross (D) off.

Robin might agree with this claim since Robin argues that we can determine whether ancient cultures were nomadic or sedentary from the durability of its artifacts. Still, we don't know whether Robin thinks this information tells us "a great deal" about that culture.

We don't know whether Kendall would agree with this claim. Kendall doesn't think the durability of the artifacts tells us whether cultures were nomadic or sedentary. But perhaps Kendall believes we can learn other information about the culture from the artifacts. Because we can't infer Kendall's opinion on (E), we can eliminate it.