Historical excavations of Romano-British villa complexes consistently uncovered sophisticated mosaic installations displaying complex geometric design...
GMAT Information and Ideas : (Ideas) Questions
Historical excavations of Romano-British villa complexes consistently uncovered sophisticated mosaic installations displaying complex geometric designs and scenes from classical mythology. This archaeological evidence led numerous researchers to determine that ornate decorative flooring constituted a characteristic component of residential Roman architecture throughout Britain. Contemporary comprehensive archaeological studies, nevertheless, have demonstrated that underfloor heating installations—requiring substantial capital expenditure and specialized construction knowledge—are documented at more than 60% of surveyed villa locations, whereas ornate mosaic work appears at less than 20% of sites, indicating that ________
Which choice best describes the function of the second sentence in the overall structure of the text?
ornate mosaic installations should not be regarded as representative characteristics of Romano-British residential building conventions.
underfloor heating systems required greater technical sophistication than mosaic construction methods.
Roman residential architecture in Britain varied considerably from Roman construction practices on the continent.
archaeological researchers have traditionally emphasized decorative architectural features over utilitarian building components.
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Part A: Create Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| "Historical excavations of Romano-British villa complexes consistently uncovered sophisticated mosaic installations displaying complex geometric designs and scenes from classical mythology." |
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| "This archaeological evidence led numerous researchers to determine that ornate decorative flooring constituted a characteristic component of residential Roman architecture throughout Britain." |
|
| "Contemporary comprehensive archaeological studies, nevertheless, have demonstrated that underfloor heating installations are documented at more than 60% of surveyed villa locations," |
|
| "whereas ornate mosaic work appears at less than 20% of sites," |
|
| "indicating that __________" |
|
Part B: Provide Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: New archaeological evidence challenges the traditional view that ornate mosaics were characteristic of Romano-British architecture, since they appear far less frequently than other features like heating systems.
Argument Flow: The passage presents a classic old view vs. new evidence structure. First, we learn what researchers traditionally concluded based on historical excavations. Then contemporary studies provide statistical evidence that contradicts this conclusion.
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 evidence is the statistical comparison: heating systems appear in 60%+ of villa sites while mosaics appear in less than 20%
- This directly challenges the researchers conclusion that mosaics were characteristic of Roman architecture in Britain
- The logical conclusion should be that since mosaics appear in such a small percentage of sites compared to other features, they should not be considered representative or characteristic of Romano-British residential architecture
ornate mosaic installations should not be regarded as representative characteristics of Romano-British residential building conventions.
- This directly follows from the statistical evidence presented
- If mosaics appear in less than 20% of sites while heating appears in 60%+, then mosaics clearly are not representative of the broader architectural pattern
underfloor heating systems required greater technical sophistication than mosaic construction methods.
- Focuses on comparing technical sophistication between heating and mosaics
- The passage mentions heating required specialized construction knowledge but does not compare the technical difficulty of the two features
Roman residential architecture in Britain varied considerably from Roman construction practices on the continent.
- Makes a comparison between British and continental Roman practices
- The passage only discusses Romano-British sites with no comparison to Roman architecture elsewhere
archaeological researchers have traditionally emphasized decorative architectural features over utilitarian building components.
- Suggests researchers emphasized decorative over utilitarian features
- While this might seem implied, the passage does not actually indicate this was a systematic bias