According to the prevailing view, Homo erectus, an ancestor of Homo sapiens, lacked the intellectual and technological sophistic

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问题     According to the prevailing view, Homo erectus, an ancestor of Homo sapiens, lacked the intellectual and technological sophistication to have achieved controlled use of fire; that had to wait for the emergence of H. sapiens 40,000 years ago. However, recent evidence seriously undermines this view. At two sites in Kenya, many small, lens-shaped patches of discolored earth were uncovered along with bones and stone tools of H. erectus. Analysis showed that the patches, which, like the tools and bones, dated from 1.6 million years ago, were almost certainly the result of deliberately built fires, since those fires were evidently much hotter than typical naturally occurring bush fires. The size of the patches rules out lightning strikes, which could have explained the fires’ high temperatures. Furthermore, the fires were fed by a mixture of grasses and woods that strongly deliberately collected fuel. In addition, many of H. erectus’ tools were made of basalt or quartz, stones when exposed to the intense heat near a campfire, form characteristic dimples on their surface. A recent study found that such dimples never appear on tools dating earlier than 1.6 million years ago but do consistently appear on later tools.
The primary purpose of the passage is to

选项 A、challenge an entrenched interpretation of certain well-known findings
B、defend a widely held view from particular criticisms
C、reconcile two competing interpretations of certain findings
D、present evidence that calls a popular view into question
E、point out the scientific implausibility of particular interpretations of certain findings

答案D

解析 本题属于主旨题。本文的主旨便是通过肯尼亚的发现来挑战第一句的老观点,因此选项D正确。A项文章挑战的是老观点,但是这个老观点并没有解读某些发现。B项本文在于反驳老观点而非支持老观点。C项没有reconcile。E项certain findings可以认为对应肯尼亚的发现,但是文章利用这些发现支持自己的观点,而非指出这些发现的不科学之处。
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本试题收录于: GRE VERBAL题库GRE分类
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