Complex terraced agricultural systems discovered in the highlands of Madagascar demonstrate sophisticated engineering and water management techniques....
GMAT Information and Ideas : (Ideas) Questions
Complex terraced agricultural systems discovered in the highlands of Madagascar demonstrate sophisticated engineering and water management techniques. These same terrace designs appear across Southeast Asian islands, where historical records document their use by farming communities for over 2,000 years. Archaeological dating shows the Madagascar terraces were constructed approximately 1,500 years ago. However, genetic and linguistic evidence indicates that the Malagasy people arrived from Southeast Asia only 800 years ago, well after the terraces were built. To explain the presence of these sophisticated agricultural systems in Madagascar, anthropologist Dr. Marie Razafy and her team analyzed construction techniques across both regions and concluded that _____
Which choice most logically completes the text?
human migration likely played no role in bringing these agricultural techniques to Madagascar.
Malagasy populations likely acquired these techniques from Southeast Asian peoples within the last 800 years.
the terraced agricultural systems in Madagascar likely predate their development in Southeast Asia.
Madagascar's agricultural systems likely evolved from simple farming methods, not from complex Southeast Asian designs.
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Part A: Create Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| "Complex terraced agricultural systems discovered in the highlands of Madagascar demonstrate sophisticated engineering and water management techniques." |
|
| "These same terrace designs appear across Southeast Asian islands, where historical records document their use by farming communities for over 2,000 years." |
|
| "Archaeological dating shows the Madagascar terraces were constructed approximately 1,500 years ago." |
|
| "However, genetic and linguistic evidence indicates that the Malagasy people arrived from Southeast Asia only 800 years ago, well after the terraces were built." |
|
Main Point: Archaeological evidence reveals a chronological puzzle about sophisticated terraced farming systems in Madagascar that predate the arrival of the people who would have known how to build them.
Step 2: Interpret the Question Precisely
This is a fill-in-the-blank question asking us to choose the best logical connector. The answer must create the right relationship between what comes before and after the blank.
Step 3: Prethink the Answer
- The key puzzle is timing: Madagascar has sophisticated terraces from 1,500 years ago, but the people from Southeast Asia who knew these techniques did not arrive until 800 years ago.
- Since the terraces existed before the people arrived, human migration from Southeast Asia could not have brought these techniques to Madagascar.
- The right answer should conclude that migration was not responsible for bringing these agricultural techniques.
human migration likely played no role in bringing these agricultural techniques to Madagascar.
- This directly addresses the timing contradiction by concluding migration was not responsible.
- If the terraces existed before the people arrived, migration could not have brought the techniques.
Malagasy populations likely acquired these techniques from Southeast Asian peoples within the last 800 years.
- Claims techniques were acquired within the last 800 years, contradicting archaeological evidence that terraces are 1,500 years old.
the terraced agricultural systems in Madagascar likely predate their development in Southeast Asia.
- Suggests Madagascar terraces are older than Southeast Asian ones, contradicting the passage which states Southeast Asian terraces have 2,000+ years of documented use.
Madagascar's agricultural systems likely evolved from simple farming methods, not from complex Southeast Asian designs.
- Claims Madagascar systems evolved independently, contradicting the passage emphasis that these are the same terrace designs with sophisticated engineering.