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Zorluk: ZorParsing Complex Syntax, Reversals, and Double Negatives

Far from being an instance of reckless speculation, the paleolinguist's hypothesis regarding early hominin language capabilities is not ungrounded; notwithstanding the paucity of direct vocal tract fossils, the discovery of complex pigment processing sites suggests that early symbolic communication was hardly ________. Which two of the following answer choices, when inserted into the blank, produce completed sentences that are equivalent in meaning?

  1. implausibleCevap
  2. untenableCevap
  3. C
    plausible
  4. D
    substantiated
  5. E
    rudimentary
  6. F
    inchoate

Cevap

The two choices that produce logically equivalent completed sentences are 'implausible' and 'untenable'.
The sentence contains multiple syntactic reversals: 'Far from being reckless speculation' and 'not ungrounded' both indicate that the paleolinguist's claim has solid empirical backing. The concessive clause 'notwithstanding the paucity...' acknowledges a limitation, but the main clause asserts that other evidence supports the claim. Because the blank is preceded by 'hardly' (a negative qualifier), the correct words must mean unsupportable or unbelievable so that 'hardly [unbelievable]' means 'quite believable'. Both 'implausible' and 'untenable' fit this requirement, forming a coherent and equivalent pair.

Adım Adım Çözüm

1
Parse the initial clause and double negative marker.
The phrase 'Far from being... reckless speculation' establishes that the hypothesis is serious. The double negative 'is not ungrounded' resolves to a positive assertion: the hypothesis IS grounded in empirical evidence.
Resolving double negatives is critical to determining the primary direction of the sentence.
2
Analyze the concessive clause and the pivot modifier preceding the blank.
The phrase 'notwithstanding the paucity of direct vocal tract fossils' introduces a concession (lack of physical fossils), but the main clause reinforces the positive evidence ('discovery of complex pigment processing'). The blank is preceded by 'hardly'.
The word 'hardly' acts as a negative modifier, requiring a target word with negative valence (e.g., doubtful, unfeasible) to produce an overall positive meaning (that the idea is believable/supported).
3
Evaluate answer choices to find a synonym pair with negative valence.
'implausible' and 'untenable' both mean difficult to defend or unbelievable. Placing either after 'hardly' yields the meaning that early symbolic communication is quite plausible and defensible.
Both selected options maintain identical semantic meaning and logical valence within the sentence structure.

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Parsing Complex Syntax, Reversals, and Double Negatives
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Parsing Complex Syntax, Reversals, and Double Negatives

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