Critical Reasoning

Archaeologist: A skeleton of a North American mastodon that became extinct at the peak of the Ice Age was recently discovered. It contains a human-made projectile dissimilar to any found in that part of Eurasia closest to North America. Thus, since Eurasians did not settle in North America until shortly before the peak of the Ice Age, the first Eurasian settlers in North America probably came from a more distant part of Eurasia.

What does the author want to say?

It contains a human-made projectile dissimilar to any found in that part of Eurasia closest to North America.

A man-made item was found in region of the world where there were no similar items.

Thus, since Eurasians did not settle in North America until shortly before the peak of the Ice Age, the first Eurasian settlers in North America probably came from a more distant part of Eurasia.

In order for that item to get there, it must have come from settlers that came from a different place in Eurasia - not the part closest to North America.

nitinmenon89 wrote:Archaeologist: A skeleton of a North American mastodon that became extinct at the peak of the Ice Age was recently discovered. It contains a human-made projectile dissimilar to any found in that part of Eurasia closest to North America. Thus, since Eurasians did not settle in North America until shortly before the peak of the Ice Age, the first Eurasian settlers in North America probably came from a more distant part of Eurasia.

What does the author want to say?

P1: A skeleton of some species that became at some point X was found.
P2: It contains a characteristic dissimilar to that found in the closest part of NA (Eurasia).
P3: People from Eurasia did not settle in NA before point X.
C: First Eurasians in NA where from an distant away from NA.

What is the source of this? I am not able to co-relate things here!

Hey man, please input the entire CR problem including the question and answers. It makes the discussion easier.

jak5189 wrote:Hey man, please input the entire CR problem including the question and answers. It makes the discussion easier.

Hi, I am posting the full qn here on request that the complete question be posted.

Archaeologist: A skeleton of a North American mastodon that became extinct at the peak of the Ice Age was recently discovered. It contains a human-made projectile dissimilar to any found in that part of Eurasia closest to North America. Thus, since Eurasians did not settle in North America until shortly before the peak of the Ice Age, the first Eurasian settlers in North America probably came from a more distant part of Eurasia.

Which one of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the archaeologist's argument?

(A) The projectile found in the mastodon does not resemble any that were used in Eurasia before or during the Ice Age.
(B) The people who occupied the Eurasian area closest to North America remained nomadic throughout the Ice Age.
(C) The skeleton of a bear from the same place and time as the mastodon skeleton contains a similar projectile.
(D) Other North American artifacts from the peak of the Ice Age are similar to ones from the same time found in more distant parts of Eurasia.
(E) Climatic conditions in North America just before the Ice Age were more conducive to human habitation than were those in the part of Eurasia closest to North America at that time.

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nitinmenon89 wrote:Archaeologist: A skeleton of a North American mastodon that became extinct at the peak of the Ice Age was recently discovered. It contains a human-made projectile dissimilar to any found in that part of Eurasia closest to North America. Thus, since Eurasians did not settle in North America until shortly before the peak of the Ice Age, the first Eurasian settlers in North America probably came from a more distant part of Eurasia.

What does the author want to say?

Answering the question of the meaning of argument, here it is:

Skeleton timeline:
------------------------------[Peak of ice age]-------------------------------------
[Skeleton of Mastodon found that disappeared in the peak of ice age]

Eurasian people timeline:
---> The premise says this skeleton if DISSIMILAR to the ones found in <Eurasia><Close to North America>
(Qn that can arise: So what is this skeleton similar to?)

----------||Just before peak of ice age||---------[Peak of ice age: Skeleton of Mastodon found that disappeared in the peak of ice age]-----------

Eurasian
people
settled
in NA
just
before
peak
of
ice age
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now, the conclusion states: Then, if the eurasians settled in NA and the kind of mastadon they made isn't similar to the kind of mastadon found there, then Eurasians from a distant part would have settled in NA

What would weaken the conclusion?

(A) The projectile found in the mastodon does not resemble any that were used in Eurasia before or during the Ice Age. If the M doesn't resemble any of the Ms in Eurasia, then people from a different place had settled in NA and this artifact was made by these people. This breaks down the conclusion that says that Eurasian people (from a distant part) settled in NA.

(B) The people who occupied the Eurasian area closest to North America remained nomadic throughout the Ice Age. Whether Eurasian people nomadic or not, the artifacts linking to them would all be similar, so this option is out.

(C) The skeleton of a bear from the same place and time as the mastodon skeleton contains a similar projectile. No other discussion of other kind of fossil/artifact is required here, as it isn't part of the passage.

(D) Other North American artifacts from the peak of the Ice Age are similar to ones from the same time found in more distant parts of Eurasia. We aren't comparing artifacts in the passage.

(E) Climatic conditions in North America just before the Ice Age were more conducive to human habitation than were those in the part of Eurasia closest to North America at that time. Climatic conditions and their harshness isn't a topic of discussion in the passage.

OA: A