Soru

Zorluk: OrtaStrengthening or Weakening Author Assertions

Passage:
Recent investigations into early urban settlements in the Indus Valley suggest that agricultural surplus alone cannot account for the rapid expansion of secondary craft centers during the Mature Harappan phase (c. 2600–1900 BCE). Traditional models posit that agrarian yield directly fueled urbanization by supporting specialized labor cohorts. However, isotopic analysis of human enamel from specialized artisan quarters reveals that over forty percent of resident bead-makers and metallurgists were first-generation migrants originating from geographically distant resource zones, such as the Badakhshan region and the Deccan Plateau. Archeologists hypothesize that craft expansion was driven primarily by organized long-distance trade syndicates recruiting skilled foreign artisans, rather than by domestic population growth funded by local farm output.

Statement: If isotopic analysis of non-artisan urban residents across Mature Harappan settlements reveals a similarly high proportion of first-generation foreign migrants, this finding would weaken the archeologists' hypothesis.

Cevap: Cevap

Cevap

True. The finding weakens the archeologists' hypothesis by demonstrating that high foreign migration was a general urban phenomenon rather than evidence of targeted artisan recruitment by trade syndicates.
Evaluating the statement as True is correct because showing that non-artisan populations shared the exact same high rate of foreign migration provides a broader alternative explanation for the artisan data, eliminating the specific evidentiary support for targeted craft syndicate recruitment and thus weakening the hypothesis.

Adım Adım Çözüm

1
Identify the author's/archeologists' central hypothesis and supporting evidence
Hypothesis: Craft expansion was driven by trade syndicates recruiting foreign artisans. Evidence: Over 40% of artisans in artisan quarters were first-generation foreign migrants.
Understanding the precise link between evidence and conclusion is essential for evaluating strengthening or weakening statements.
2
Analyze the potential impact of the hypothetical finding in the statement
The statement introduces a finding that non-artisan urban residents also had a similarly high proportion of first-generation foreign migrants.
Evaluating whether a new finding alters the logical connection between the evidence and the hypothesis.
3
Determine if the finding strengthens, weakens, or has no effect on the hypothesis
If all urban sectors show equal proportions of foreign migrants, the foreign origin of artisans is explained by general demographic migration rather than targeted trade syndicate recruitment. This removes the unique support for the recruitment hypothesis, weakening it.
Providing an alternative explanation for the evidence directly weakens the proposed specific causal relationship.

Anahtar Kavram

Weakening an argument by introducing an alternative explanation or demonstrating that the key evidence is not specific to the claimed cause
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