Q35: GWD32-Q12 Historical documents have revealed that among the Timucua, a Native American people of Florida , the best fromthe hunt or the harvest was given to families of high social status, even in timesof economic stress. Archaeological research suggests a similar relationshipbetween social status and diet in the Dallascommunities of eastern Tennessee,prehistoric Native American groups with a social organization and economysimilar to that of the Timucua. The first real clue came when archaeologistsdiscovered that skeletons of higher-status individuals tended to be severalcentimeters taller than those of people of lower states. In the largest Dallas communities, some individuals were buriedin the earthen mounds that served as sub-structures for buildings important tocivic and religious affairs. These burials included quantities of finelycarried items made of nonlocal material, denoting the high political standingof those interred. Burials of lower-status individuals contained primarilyutilitarian items such as cooking vessels and chipped stone tools and arelocated in more remote sections of the settlements. The burials actually formeda pattern, the tallest skeletons being found in the mounds, and the heightsdeclining as burials became more distant from the mounds. While it is possible that tallerpeople were simply more successful in achieving high social standing, itis more likely that a number of stresses, including those resulting from arelatively poor diet, which could affect stature, were common among thelower-status groups Excavations indicate that where food categories made up thebulk of the population’s diet: agricultural crops cultivated in the fertilealluvial soils where the communities were located, game, and wild edibleplants, primarily nuts. Information about dietary variation among communitymembers is derived by analyzing trace elements in human bone. Higher thannormal levels of manganese, strontium, and vanadium probably indicate a lessnutritious diet heavily dependent on edible plants. Very low concentrations ofvanadium, which is scarce in meats and somewhat lower in nuts than in otherplant resources, are good evidence of meat consumption and thus a better balanced-diet.As expected, vanadium was found in considerably greater quantities in skeletonsin the burials of lower-status groups.-------------------------------------------------------------Q12
In lines 35_38, theauthor of the passage raises the possibility that taller people achievedgreater success most probably in order to A. suggest that two explanationsfor a phenomenon are equally plausible
B. introduce empirical data supporting aposition C. anticipate an objection to anargument D. question the usefulness of relying solely onphysical evidence E. point out a weakness in a traditionalargument ------------------------------------------------------------------
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发表于 2011-10-1 23:00:58
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