In the early nineteenth century, some Euro-American farmers in the northeastern United States used agricultural techniques developed by the Haudenosau...
GMAT Information and Ideas : (Ideas) Questions
In the early nineteenth century, some Euro-American farmers in the northeastern United States used agricultural techniques developed by the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) people centuries earlier, but it seems that few of those farmers had actually seen Haudenosaunee farms firsthand. Barring the possibility of several farmers of the same era independently developing techniques that the Haudenosaunee people had already invented, these facts most strongly suggest that ______
Which choice most logically completes the text?
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Part A: Create Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| "In the early nineteenth century, some Euro-American farmers in the northeastern United States used agricultural techniques developed by the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) people centuries earlier," |
|
| "but it seems that few of those farmers had actually seen Haudenosaunee farms firsthand." |
|
| "Barring the possibility of several farmers of the same era independently developing techniques that the Haudenosaunee people had already invented," |
|
| "these facts most strongly suggest that ______" |
|
Part B: Provide Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: The passage presents a puzzle about knowledge transmission and asks us to infer how Euro-American farmers learned Haudenosaunee techniques without direct contact.
Argument Flow: We're given a situation where farmers used specific techniques but lacked direct exposure to their source. After ruling out coincidental invention, we need to determine the most logical explanation for this knowledge transfer.
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
- We have a knowledge transfer puzzle: farmers are using techniques they didn't learn directly from the source, and they didn't invent them independently
- So there must be some intermediary explanation
- The right answer should explain how this knowledge moved from the Haudenosaunee to Euro-American farmers without direct contact
- The most logical possibility is that the knowledge passed through other people who had more direct exposure to Haudenosaunee practices
- This creates a chain of transmission that bridges the gap between the original practitioners and the farmers who ultimately adopted the techniques
- This perfectly explains our puzzle - knowledge traveled through intermediaries
- Matches our prethinking about indirect transmission
- Creates a logical chain: Haudenosaunee to people with direct influence to farmers
- Claims crops weren't well-suited to the techniques
- But the passage says farmers were using these techniques, suggesting they worked
- Doesn't address how farmers learned the techniques in the first place
- Makes a claim about techniques being used elsewhere
- The passage only discusses northeastern US farmers
- Doesn't explain how knowledge reached these specific farmers
- This trap might appeal to students who think widespread use explains transmission, but this doesn't address the direct contact puzzle
- Says recognition came "late in the nineteenth century"
- Passage clearly states "early nineteenth century"
- Direct contradiction of the timeline given