#9 - Robin: Archaeologists can study the artifacts left by

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation

Point at Issue, CE. The correct answer choice is (B).

Answer choice (A):

Answer choice (B): This is the correct answer choice.

Answer choice (C):

Answer choice (D):

Answer choice (E):

This explanation is still in progress. Please post any questions below!

[lsatryan]

I was deciding between B and C and wrongly chose C. Can you please explain why C is incorrect? Thank you

[KelseyWoods]

Hi Ryan!

Let's try out the Agree/Disagree Test on answer choice (C):

"any evidence other than the intended durability of a culture's artifacts can establish conclusively which of the two kinds of cultures a particular culture was"

Would Robin agree or disagree that there is any other evidence besides durability of artifacts which can establish whether a culture is nomadic or sedentary? We don't actually know! Robin tells us that durability of artifacts can establish whether a culture is nomadic or sedentary. But she doesn't tell us that it is the only type of evidence that can conclusively establish which of the two kinds of cultures a particular culture was. Maybe she also thinks there are other types of evidence which can establish this distinction.

What about Kendall? Would Kendall agree that there is any other evidence besides durability of artifacts which can establish whether a culture is nomadic or sedentary? Again, we don't know! Kendall doesn't seem to think that durability of artifacts is enough to conclusively establish whether a culture was sedentary or nomadic. But that doesn't mean that she doesn't think there are other types of evidence that might be able to conclusively establish which of the two kinds of cultures a particular culture was.

For the Agree/Disagree Test, we really have to know what both speakers would say about the answer choice and we have to know that one speaker would definitely agree with the statement in the answer choice and the other would definitely disagree with the statement in the answer choice. Since we don't actually know whether Robin or Kendall would agree or disagree with the statement in answer choice (C), then it does not pass the Agree/Disagree test and, thus, cannot be the correct answer to our Point at Issue question.

Hope this helps!

Best,
Kelsey

[kenlars5]

Hi, I’m having a little bit of trouble on this question. I see that powerscore has highlighted CE in this problem so I just wanted to run my understanding by you and see if I’m getting it.

Robin says:
A cause of an artifacts durability is whether the culture was sedentary/nomadic.
Sedentary —> durable (made to last artifacts)
Nomadic —> not durable (quickly discarded) artifacts

Whereas Kendall questions whether the cause of an artifacts durability is a cultures lifestyle (nomadic/sedentary) or rather just what materials are available at the time.
Materials available —> durability of artifact

Therefore prephrase would be that they disagree over whether a cultures lifestyle is a cause of the durability of artifacts and thus whether an artifacts durability can suggest/determine the lifestyle (sedentary/nomadic) of the maker.

Does this make sense?
Thanks!

[Adam Tyson]

Correct, kenlars5! Well done!

[qiranz]

Hi,

I have trouble eliminating A - The distinction that Robin makes between two kinds of cultures is illicit.

I chose B under timed section, giving the fact that Robin's statement made a binary cut of living styles to either nomadic or sedentary. Robin's conditional statement shows:
artifacts made to last likely sedentary
and I can imply from the statement:
artifacts made to be quickly discarded likely nomadic
Hence, Robin agrees with answer choice B that "it is reasonable to assume that a culture whose artifacts were not durable was nomadic".
Kendall questions Robin's method to determine ancient cultures by considering the availability of materials to made artifacts. From Kendall's statement, it is reasonable to conclude that Kendall does not agree with Robin's method of determining a culture's living style. So Kendall does not agree that "it is reasonable to assume ... "

However, I hesitate when I was reviewing answer choice A. I may have trouble processing what A is talking about. I was confused if it is safe enough to infer that the distinction Robin makes counted as distinction between two cultures? or strictly speaking, it should be the live style of two cultures? Since I am not a native speaker, I can't tell whether there are any differences.
If it is not the problem of A, is it because Robin does not comment on his/her own argument? From my understanding, Kendall does agree that "the distinction that Robin makes between two kinds of cultures is illicit".
Thank you!

[Bob O'Halloran]

Hi Qiranz,
Thank you for the question. Answer choice (A) is phrased in a way that requires some thinking. For that reason, you are wise to keep it as a contender and move on. (B) turns out to be a much better answer because you can point right to where this occurs in the stimulus.
I hope this helps.
Bob

[Katherinthesky]

I understand why (B) is correct and fortunately chose it during my timed PT, but is (A) incorrect because Robin actually never addresses the distinction she makes as illicit?

Thanks in advance.

[Robert Carroll]

Katherinthesky,

Robin is the one making the distinction, so of course she would not think it illicit. But note that Kendall also does not think it's illicit. Kendall may well believe the following: "I agree that there are nomadic cultures and sedentary cultures, and I agree that there are durable artifacts and non-durable artifacts. I disagree that you can determine what type of culture something was from the type of artifacts it used."

In short, Kendall doesn't really address whether the distinctions are valid, but instead addresses whether inferring one type of fact from another type of fact is valid. So Kendall has no opinion on what answer choice (A) says.

Robert Carroll

[mkarimi73]

For those who don't know (and I didn't know when doing this problem), illicit means "forbidden by law, rules, or custom." Neither speaker speaks to that issue of whether the distinction Robin makes between cultures is "forbidden by law."

In regards to (B), isn't this answer choice negating the conditional statement of Robin's argument? That's why I was hesitant to pick (B), but I did anyway! Technically, Robin would not necessarily agree with that statement logically....unless the "it is reasonable to assume" aspect of answer choice (B) keeps it as a contender. I guess that's why it is the best, correct answer?

And (E) is wrong because this is out-of-scope to what the two speakers are arguing about, correct? Meaning....it's not a provable answer choice?

Thanks in advance.