Which one of the following most accurately expresses the main point of the passage?

ankita96 on August 9, 2020

And choice A

could you explain why A opposed to C is incorrect? thanks in advance!

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shunhe on August 10, 2020

Hi @ankita96,

Thanks for the question! So this is a main point question, and these kinds of questions are good to think about in your head before you look at the answer choices. What is basically going on in this passage? Well, the whole passage is basically talking about Sandra Olsen and how she found some evidence for thinking that the Botai domesticated horses. And that’s summed up pretty well in (C), which tells us that her findings provide evidence that the Botai people domesticated horses and may have ridden them.

(A), on the other hand, tells us that the main point is about how Olsen’s careful analysis of her finds in Kazakhstan illustrate the kinds of conclusions that archaeologists can draw based on a correlation between statistical information and expectations. First of all, this doesn’t even mention anything about horses, which are a huge part of the passage. Second, conclusions that archaeologists overall can draw is definitely not a main focus of the passage. And third, “statistical information” is mentioned only in the first paragraph very briefly (“statistical tabulations” in line 14), and nothing about “correlation between statistical information and expectations” is mentioned. So (A) isn’t the main point, and isn’t even fully supported by the passage, so it’s the wrong answer.

Hope this helps! Feel free to ask any other questions that you might have.