Free Practice Question
RC · Reading Comprehension
605-655
Short Passage - Social Science
Reading Passage
In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, many Western Pueblo settlements in what is now the southwestern United Line States may have possessed distinctly hierarchical organizational structures. These communities' agricultural systems-which were "intensive" in the use of labor rather than "extensive" in area-may have given rise to political leadership that managed both labor and food resources. That formal management of food resources was needed is suggested by the large size of storage spaces located around some communal Great Kivas (underground ceremonial chambers). Though no direct evidence exists that such spaces were used to store food, Western Pueblo communities lacking sufficient arable land to support their populations could have preserved the necessary extra food, including imported foodstuffs, in such apparently communal spaces.
Moreover, evidence of specialization in producing raw materials and in manufacturing ceramics and textiles indicates differentiation of labor within and between communities. The organizational and managerial demands of such specialization strengthen the possibility that a decision-making elite existed, an elite whose control over labor, the use of community surpluses, and the acquisition of imported goods would have led to a concentration of economic resources in their own hands. Evidence for differential distribution of wealth is found in burials of the period: some include large quantities of pottery, jewelry, and other artifacts, whereas others from the same sites lack any such materials.
Moreover, evidence of specialization in producing raw materials and in manufacturing ceramics and textiles indicates differentiation of labor within and between communities. The organizational and managerial demands of such specialization strengthen the possibility that a decision-making elite existed, an elite whose control over labor, the use of community surpluses, and the acquisition of imported goods would have led to a concentration of economic resources in their own hands. Evidence for differential distribution of wealth is found in burials of the period: some include large quantities of pottery, jewelry, and other artifacts, whereas others from the same sites lack any such materials.
Which of the following, if true, would most clearly undermine the author's statement in the last sentence of the passage (lines 38-43) regarding the distribution of wealth in Western Pueblo settlements?
Answer Choices
Correct answer marked belowA
Only community members of exceptional wealth are likely to have been buried with their personal possessions.
B
Members of communities with extensive agricultural systems are usually buried without personal possessions.
C
Most artifacts found in burial sites were manufactured locally rather than imported from other communities.
Burial artifacts are often ritual objects associated with religious practices rather than being the deceased's personal possessions.
Correct
E
The quality of burial artifacts varies depending on the site with which they are associated.
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What it tests
Your ability to understand a passage, its structure, and what the author is really saying. At the 605-655 level, accuracy and speed both matter.
Common trap
Answering from memory or outside knowledge instead of strictly from the passage.
Details
Difficulty
605-655
Type
RC
Category