According to a theory advanced
by researcher Paul Martin, the wave
of species extinctions that occurred
Line in North America about 11,000 years
(5) 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
(10) Shepard Krech points out that large
animal species vanished even in areas
where there is no evidence to demon-
strate that Paleoindians hunted them.
Nor were extinctions confined to large
(15) 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
(20) 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,
(25) arguing that humans have produced
local extinctions elsewhere. But,
according to historian Richard White,
even the attribution of secondary
responsibility may not be supported
(30) 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
(35) 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.
Q6:
Which of the following, if true, would most weaken Krech’s objections to Martin’s theory?
A. Further studies showing that the climatic change that occurred at the end of the Pleistocene era was even more severe and widespread than was previously believed
B. New discoveries indicating that Paleoindians made use of the small animals, plants, and insects that became extinct
C. Additional evidence indicating that widespread climatic change occurred not only at the end of the Pleistocene era but also in previous and subsequent eras
D. Researchers’ discoveries that many more species became extinct in North America at the end of the Pleistocene era than was previously believed
E. New discoveries establishing that both the arrival of humans in North America and the wave of Pleistocene extinctions took place much earlier than 11,000 years ago
我选的是C，我觉得C的意思是气候变化长期存在，但是人类出现在 the end of the Pleistocene era，人类的出现是新的一个因素。而物种在当时灭绝了，不是正好削弱了Krech的Objection么（物种灭绝主要和气候变化有关，而不是人类活动）
正确答案B，意思不是说有正确显示人类利用了已经灭绝的小型动物什么的，那不就是说人类出现的时候那些物种已经灭绝了。那就支持了当时物种灭绝和人类活动无关（与气候有关）那不是support了K的观点了。
B的意思是那时候的人类也在利用后来灭绝了的小动物（应该是抓来吃吧）。如果小动物在人类之前已经灭绝了，那人类还怎么make use of它们呢？这个选项直接证明了人类是在干涉小动物的生存现状的，所以weaken了Krech的论点。
从原文可得出，Krech认为气候是动物灭绝的原因（Krech also contradicts Martin’s exclusion of climatic change as an explanation ...，看清楚这句的意思是Martin不认为气候是灭绝的原因，但是Krech反对这个观点）。那么你要weaken他的观点应该是去证明气候不是灭绝的原因啊。作者: seanceserene 时间: 2010-6-7 06:55
