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Difficulty: MediumCross-Text Connections: Relational Synthesis

Text 1
Anthropologist Richard Wrangham argues that the control of fire and cooking food was a critical driver of early human evolution. Wrangham posits that cooking gelatinizes starch and denatures protein, vastly increasing the energy yield of food. This dietary efficiency supposedly allowed our ancestor, *Homo erectus*, to develop a significantly larger brain while reducing the size of the digestive tract.

Text 2
Archaeologists Sarah Hlubik and colleagues note that definitive, widespread evidence of controlled fire, such as hearths and charred bone, is scarce in the fossil record prior to 400000400{}000 years ago. While *Homo erectus* brain size began expanding nearly 1.81.8 million years ago, early sites show only sporadic patches of burned sediment. Thus, Hlubik suggests that early brain growth was likely sustained by high-quality raw foods, like meat, rather than cooked meals.

Based on the passages, how would Hlubik and colleagues (Text 2) most likely characterize the hypothesis advanced by Wrangham in Text 1?

  1. A
    As a flawed theory that incorrectly denies the metabolic benefits that cooking provides to hominid digestion.
  2. B
    As an unsupported speculation that overestimates the role of raw meat in the diet of early *Homo erectus*.
  3. As an appealing explanation of hominid evolution that conflicts with the timeline established by physical evidence.Answer
  4. D
    As a promising hypothesis that is validated by the widespread discovery of early hearths and charred bones.

Answer

As an appealing explanation of hominid evolution that conflicts with the timeline established by physical evidence.
The correct answer is the option stating that Wrangham's hypothesis is an appealing explanation that conflicts with the timeline established by physical evidence. Text 1 explains Wrangham's hypothesis that cooking allowed *Homo erectus* to evolve larger brains. However, Text 2 notes that while brain expansion in *Homo erectus* began 1.81.8 million years ago, widespread physical evidence of fire is scarce before 400000400{}000 years ago. Thus, Hlubik and colleagues would characterize Wrangham's theory as one that contradicts the timeline of the archaeological evidence.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze Text 1 to identify the core claim.
Text 1 presents Wrangham's hypothesis that the energy benefits of cooking food drove the evolutionary expansion of the brain in *Homo erectus*.
Understanding the premise of the first text is necessary to evaluate how the second text's author would react to it.
2
Analyze Text 2 to identify the conflicting archaeological evidence.
Text 2 points out that *Homo erectus* brain expansion began nearly 1.81.8 million years ago, whereas widespread evidence of fire only appears around 400000400{}000 years ago.
This timeline gap forms the basis of the critique that cooking could not have driven the initial brain expansion.
3
Synthesize the relationship between the two texts to determine the characterization.
Because the physical evidence of fire does not align with the start of brain expansion, the authors of Text 2 would view Wrangham's hypothesis as conflicting with the archaeological timeline.
This step matches the synthesized perspective to the correct option.

Key Concept

Cross-Text Connections: Relational Synthesis
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Topics

Cross-Text Connections: Relational Synthesis

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