It can be inferred that the author would be more likely to endorse the resource-procurement model for clearings if th...

Victoria on May 12, 2020

Hi @ChristianJM,

Your question was cut off, but I'm assuming you are asking why answer choice (A) is correct.

In paragraph 1, the author claims that the archaeological evidence in support of the resource-procurement model for clearings is "at best circumstantial."

In paragraph 2, the author tells us that the majority of the evidence supporting the resource-procurement model is ethnographic rather than archaeological, and that this ethnographic evidence may instead support a non economic model.

The remainder of the passage is focused on outlining the views of geographer Yi-Fu Tuan and developing the author's alternative hypothesis.

Answer choice (B) is incorrect because of the use of the phrase "certain recent premodern populations." The passage is focused on Mesolithic human populations who are not necessarily encompassed within this phrase.

Answer choice (C) is also incorrect. Just because the creation of clearings may be an effective means of attracting grazing animals does not mean that Mesolithic populations used them for this reason.

Answer choice (D) is incorrect because it is irrelevant. How the clearings were created has no impact on what Mesolithic populations used them for.

Answer choice (E) is incorrect for the same reasons as answer choice (D). An increase in woodland clearings during the Mesolithic period does not explain what they were used for or necessarily suggest that they were used by Mesolithic populations at all.

Finally, answer choice (A) is correct because it is directly addressed by the author in lines 14 to 17. The author notes that there is generally minimal evidence to support the claim that humans prepared animals for consumption within or near such clearings. If there were greater evidence to support this claim, there would be stronger support for the resource-procurement model.

Note that the question does not require us to select the answer choice which would definitively shift the author's opinions, resulting in a full endorsement of the resource-procurement model. We are simply looking for the answer choice which would increase the author's likelihood of endorsing the model.

Hope this is helpful! Please let us know if you have any further questions.