CARS vol2 passage 18 96-100

Passage 18 (Questions 96–100)

One of the hottest topics in anthropology today centers on the place of the mysterious Neandertals on the human family tree. These people lived at the juncture between the demise of Homo erectus and the advent of Homo sapiens sapiens, our own species.

What role the Neandertals played in this transition has been the subject of long and contentious debate among anthropologists. Call them Homo sapiens neanderthalensis and acknowledge them as direct ancestors of modern humans? Or type them as Homo neanderthalensis and more distant relatives, members of a separate species outside our direct ancestry?

If someone were to meet a Neandertal on the New York subway, he or she would be struck by the size and protrusion of the nose, the prominent ridges above the eyes, and the distinct absence of a chin. In addition, the forehead was much flatter and the skull longer, and although not readily apparent to fellow passengers, the bones of the skull would be much thicker than those in modern humans. What was inside that long, low cranium is the key to what it was to be a Neandertal. If quantity was the only measure, then the Neandertal’s apparent mental powers were impressive, because the average brain size was larger than a modern human’s—about 1,400 cc as compared with 1,360 cc.

Some clues to their potential “humanness” do exist. For the first time in history, the Neandertal people performed ritual burials—a uniquely human activity. At the site of Le Moustier in France, the body of a Neandertal teenager was apparently lowered into a pit, where he was placed on his right side, his head resting on his forearm, as if asleep. Around the body were scattered the bones of a wild cow. Some prehistorians speculate that these bones were covered with meat at the time of the boy’s burial and were included as sustenance for his journey to the next world.

The evolution of the Neandertals was a gradual affair, with roots going back at least 200,000 and maybe even 300,000 years. By 130,000 years ago, they were well established. And by the end of that interglacial respite, which ended 70,000 years ago, the exaggerated features of the classic Neandertals were well set. For the next 35,000 years or so—until they finally disappeared—Neandertals were truly people of the Ice Age, and in many ways their anatomy reflects adaptations to cold climes.

Subsistence for these people must have been demanding, particularly for those on the tundra of ice-bound Eurasia. Reindeer, wooly rhinos, and mammoth provided not only meat but also hide for clothing and bone for building shelters, as wood and other plant resources were scarce or absent. The resourceful Neandertals also manufactured a wide range of artifacts with which to tackle their daily chores.

Stone tools clearly signal the pace of change in human prehistory. For the million years after the appearance of tools in the record, they remained crude in structure and limited in variety: choppers, scrapers, and flakes. Only about 200,000 years ago did the pace begin to change. The Levallois technique was developed, enabling toolmakers to produce several large flakes from a single lump of rock. When the Neandertals came onto the scene, they further refined this technique. Nevertheless, no further innovations were introduced for more than 50,000 years, when the modern human era began.

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The author implies that the primary significance of Neandertals is their:

A

uncertain classification.

B

position as premodern humans.

C

use of stone tools.

D

burial of the dead.

Solution: The correct answer is A.

1. At the outset, the Neandertals are termed “mysterious” in respect to their place on “the human family tree”. After asserting that their role in the transition from Homo erectus to “our own species” “has been the subject of long and contentious debate among anthropologists”, the author devotes the remainder of the passage to “clues to their potential ‘humanness’”. This emphasis on the uncertain classification of Neandertals implies that it is their primary significance.

2. In referring to Neandertals as premodern humans, this response assumes the issue that is in doubt—whether they might instead be “members of a separate species outside our direct ancestry”.

3. The Neandertals’ use of stone tools apparently provides little useful information. They refined a pre-existing technique for producing them but introduced no innovations.

4. Evidence that Neandertals buried their dead is presented as one clue “to their potential ‘humanness’”, the issue of primary interest.

got thos one incorrect selected b now i see that It was incorrect and in the intro paragrahp its undeceided where they should be in relation to os on the family tree

The statement that stone tools “signal the pace of change in human prehistory” means that:

A

stone tools indicate the need for a more advanced technology.

B

innovations are normally followed by a slowing of the rate of technological change.

Answer choice eliminated

C

radiocarbon dating reveals the chronology of technological change.

Answer choice eliminated

D

changes in tools indicate changes in the toolmaker.

Solution: The correct answer is D.

1. The passage does not refer to technological developments beyond the Stone Age nor suggest any pressure for them during that era of prehistory.

2. Although the rate of technological change slowed following the development of the Levallois technique, the passage does not imply that such a slowing is normal or characteristic of human prehistory. Rather, it suggests that the pace of change accelerated when innovations in stone tools began with “the modern human era”.

3. Since the passage does not allude to the method used to determine the age of stone artifacts, there is no reason to suppose that the statement about their significance refers to radiocarbon dating.

4. The phrase is clarified by the paragraph that it introduces, which refers to the lack of innovations “for more than 50,000 years”, the period during which Neandertals were ascendant, implying a corresponding stasis in the intellectual development of these toolmakers. The paragraph also implies an increase in the pace of change in human prehistory at the end of this period, when toolmaking innovations marked the beginning of “the modern human era”.

was between a and D selected A thought d should have went with gut

also need to note that they did not mention advancment boyind stone tools or a need for it so that disqualifies my answer

A form of Homo erectus with apelike features and standing three feet tall lived in Ethiopia 700,000 years before Neandertals appeared. This information increases the likelihood of which of the following answers to the author’s question about the place of Neandertals on the “human family tree”?

A

Homo sapiens sapiens and Neandertals have a common ancestor.

B

Neandertals are the “missing link” between apes and humans.

Answer choice eliminated

C

Multiple human family trees exist.

D

Neandertals are the direct ancestors of humans.

Solution: The correct answer is A.

1. The date established for the African form of Homo erectus situates this species far enough before the advent of Neandertals and of Homo sapiens sapiens, who emerged as a definite species somewhat later, to makes it a plausible ancestor for both. During the intervening eons, the characteristics of both of the latter two forms could have evolved from the smaller, more apelike species, and their ancestors could have migrated into Europe.

2. The evolutionary relationship between hominids and other primates is not addressed in the passage, and the existence of a form of Homo erectus in Africa 700,00 years before neanderthalensis (whatever its true species classification) lived in Europe has no obvious bearing on this relationship.

3. Neandertals and modern humans are assumed to be members of a single family, and only the closeness of their relationship is in doubt. The Ethiopian Homo erectus lived long before either, so it might represent a separate human lineage that became extinct. However, the hypothesis of multiple human family trees does not answer the question of the proper placement of Neandertals on the lineage leading to humans.

4. Since Homo erectus lived 700,000 years before Neandertals emerged, information on their appearance and habitat implies nothing about the relationship between Neandertals and the humans who followed them.

was between a and c eliminated b and d because no missing link or direct answer can be assumed 

The author claims that the Neandertals were resourceful in manufacturing artifacts. The support offered for this conclusion is:

A

weak; their tools remained few and crude.

B

weak; no examples of their tools are given.

C

strong; their impressive intelligence implies resourcefulness.

D

strong; they invented the Levallois technique of toolmaking.

Solution: The correct answer is B.

1. The stone tools described as “crude in structure and limited in variety” were fashioned between a million and 200,000 years ago, before the emergence of Neandertals. Whether the tools of Neandertals remained crude and few is unclear (see rationale B). However, the perfection or variety of tools does not indicate the resourcefulness required to make them. Resourcefulness, which concerns the ability to devise ways and means, might be indicated by the type of stone used for various tasks, the difficulty of obtaining it, etc. The only evidence offered of Neandertal resourcefulness in toolmaking is their refinement of the Levallois technique.

2. The assertion that a prehistoric group was resourceful in manufacturing a wide range of artifacts with which to tackle daily chores implies that numerous and various examples of their stone tools have been examined. Yet no examples of Neandertal tools are mentioned. The only information offered is that Neandertals refined an already-existing technique for striking flints from a rock but introduced no further innovations. Thus the support in the passage for the author’s conclusion is weak.

3. The passage provides no reason to conclude that the intelligence of Neandertals was impressive by human standards. It reveals that this group performed “ritual burials”, killed large animals, wore their hides, and built shelters of their bones, and could flake rock, not activities indicative of especially high intelligence. Their large brain would imply impressive mental powers only “if quantity was the only measure”, an unsupported (and unsupportable) assumption.

4. The Neandertals apparently did not invent the Levallois technique.

incorrect bc tools described were not belonging to neanderthals juts tools of the time 

the author’s primary criterion for judging the “humanness” of Neandertals were applied to computers, which of the following systems would be most human?

A

A mainline computer with a very large capacity

B

An assembly-line robot that uses tools to make tools

Answer choice eliminated

C

A weapons system that locates and destroys specified targets

Answer choice eliminated

D

A child’s toy that is programmed to recite religious verses

Solution: The correct answer is D.

1. The author expresses doubt that brain size corresponds to mental powers, since on the basis of capacity alone, the intellect of Neandertals would exceed that of modern humans.

2. The Levallois technique apparently employed a tool to make tools—a stone used to strike “large flakes from a single lump of rock”. According to the author, it was not the use of this technique but its development that signaled a change in the pace of human prehistory.

3. Neandertals apparently used their stone “flakes” in spears used to kill “reindeer, wooly rhinos, and mammoth”. The author does not cite this use of weapons as evidence of specifically human abilities.

4. The only aspect of Neandertals that is explicitly cited as a criterion of “humanness” is ritual burial. The careful arrangement of the Le Moustier body in a burial pit as well as the likelihood that the dead were provided with sustenance indicates reverence for the dead that implies the belief in an afterlife. Implicitly, therefore, the author considers religious beliefs a specifically human attainment. A feasible way of indicating religious belief in a computer would be to program it to recite pious sayings.