GRE阅读真题备考——第十四篇

Passage 14

　　Although the passenger pigeons, now extinct, were abundant in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century America, archaeological studies at twelfth-century Cahokian sites in the present day United States examined household food trash and found that traces of passenger pigeon were quite rare. Given that the sites were close to a huge passenger pigeon roost documented by John James Audubon in the nineteenth century and that Cahokians consumed almost every other animal protein source available, （Q2）the archaeologists conducting the studies concluded the passenger pigeon population had once been very limited before increasing dramatically in post-Columbian America. Other archaeologists have criticized those conclusions on the grounds that passenger pigeon bones would not be likely to be preserved. But all the archaeological projects found plenty of bird bones- and even （Q1）tiny bones from fish.

　　1. The author of the passage mentions “tiny bones from fish” primarily in order to

　　A. explain why traces of passenger pigeon are rare at Cahokian sites

　　B. support a claim about the wide variety of animal proteins in the Cahokian diet

　　C. provide evidence that confirms a theory about the extinction of the passenger pigeon

　　D. cast doubt on the conclusion reached by the archaeologists who conducted the studies discussed in the passage

　　E. counter an objection to an interpretation of the data obtained from Cahokian sites

　　2. Which of the following, if true, would most call into question the reasoning of “the archaeologists conducting the studies”?

　　A. Audubon was unable to correctly identify twelfth-century Cahokian sites

　　B. Audubon made his observations before passenger pigeon populations began to decline.

　　C. Passenger pigeons would have been attracted to household food trash

　　D. Archaeologist have found passenger pigeon remains among food waste at eighteenth-century human settlements

　　E. Passenger pigeons tended not to roost at the same sites for very many generations

　　答案：E E