GMAT Reading Comprehension

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Source: GWD

Level: 3

According to a theory advanced by researcher Paul Martin, the wave of species extinctions that occurredin North America about 11,000 years ago, at the end of the Pleistocene era, can be directly attributed to the arrival of humans, i.e., the Paleoindians, who were ancestors of modern Native Americans. However, anthropologist Shepard Krech points out that large animal species vanished even in areas where there is no evidence to demonstrate that Paleoindians hunted them. Nor were extinctions confined to large animals: small animals, plants, and insects disappeared, presumably not all through human consumption. Krech also contradicts Martin's exclusion of climatic change as an explanation by asserting that widespread climatic change did indeed occur at the end of the Pleistocene. Still, Krech attributes secondary if not primary responsibility for the extinctions to the Paleoindians, arguing that humans have produced local extinctions elsewhere. But, according to historian Richard White, even the attribution of secondary responsibility may not be supported by the evidence. White observes that Martin's thesis depends on coinciding dates for the arrival of humans and the decline of large animal species, and Krech, though aware that the dates are controversial, does not challenge them; yet recent archaeological discoveries are providing evidence that the date of human arrival was much earlier than 11,000 years ago.

Question List: 1 2 3

In the last sentence of the passage, the author refers to "recent archaeological discoveries" most probably in order to

  • A refute White's suggestion that neither Maritn nor Krech adequately account for Paleoindians' contributions to the Pleistocene extinctions
  • B cast doubt on the possibility that a more definitive theory regarding the causes of the Pleistocene extinctions may be forthcoming
  • C suggest that Martin's, Krech's, and White's theories regarding the Pleistocene extinctions are all open to question
  • D call attention to the most controversial aspect of all the current theories regarding the Pleistocene extinctions
  • E provide support for White's questioning of both Martin's and Krech's positions regarding the role of Paleoindians in the Pleistocene extinctions

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