Exactly when in the early modern era Native Americans began exchanging animal furs with Europeans for European-made goods is unc

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问题 Exactly when in the early modern era Native Americans began exchanging animal furs with Europeans for European-made goods is uncertain. What is fairly certain, even though they left no written evidence of having done so, is that the first Europeans to conduct such trade during the modern period were fishing crews working the waters around Newfoundland. Archaeologists had noticed that sixteenth-century Native American sites were strewn with iron bolts and metal pins. Only later, upon reading Nicolas Denys’s 1672 account of seventeenth-century European settlements in North America, did archaeologists realize that sixteenth-century European fishing crews had dismantled and exchanged parts of their ships for furs.
By the time Europeans sailing the Atlantic coast of North America first documented the fur trade, it was apparently well underway. The first to record such trade—the captain of a Portuguese vessel sailing from Newfoundland in 1501—observed that a Native American aboard the ship wore Venetian silver earrings. Another early chronicler noted in 1524 that Native Americans living along the coast of what is now New England had become selective about European trade goods: they accepted only knives, fishhooks, and sharp metal. By the time Cartier sailed the Saint Lawrence River ten years later, Native Americans had traded with Europeans for more than thirty years, perhaps half a century.
Which of the following best describes the primary function of lines 11-16?

选项 A、It offers a reconsideration of a claim made in the preceding sentence.
B、It reveals how archaeologists arrived at an interpretation of the evidence mentioned in the preceding sentence.
C、It shows how scholars misinterpreted the significance of certain evidence mentioned in the preceding sentence.
D、It identifies one of the first significant accounts of seventeenth-century European settlements in North America.
E、It explains why Denys’s account of seventeenth-century European settlements is thought to be significant.

答案B

解析 Evaluation
This question depends on understanding how the last sentence of the first paragraph functions in relation to the larger passage. The first paragraph explains that the earliest Europeans to trade with Native Americans were fishing crews near Newfoundland. The second-to-last sentence of the paragraph describes archaeological artifacts from Native American sites. The last sentence then explains that Nicolas Denys’s 1672 account helped archaeologists realize that the artifacts were evidence of trade with fishing crews. Thus, the last sentence of the passage shows how archaeologists learned to interpret the evidence mentioned in the previous sentence.
A The only claim made in the previous sentence is that archaeologists found a particular type of evidence. The final sentence of the paragraph does not suggest that this claim should be reconsidered.
B Correct. After reading Denys’s account, archaeologists were able to interpret the archaeological evidence mentioned in the previous sentence.
C The passage suggests that archaeologists correctly interpreted the evidence, not misinterpreted it.
D Denys’s account is mentioned primarily to explain how archaeologists learned to interpret the archaeological evidence, not primarily to identify an important early account of settlements.
E The passage does not discuss why Denys’s account is significant, only that archaeologists used it to help understand the evidence mentioned in the previous sentence.
The correct answer is B.
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本试题收录于: GMAT VERBAL题库GMAT分类
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