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Archaeologists studying Bonito phase (ca. A.D. 900-1140) Native American ceramics from Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, observed that many pots had been altered after firing to revise their decorative designs--usually, intricate geometric patterns painted in black on white slipped surfaces. In some cases, a new design was imposed over an earlier one; less often, the original design was simply covered with white slip. Crown and Wills doubt that the alterations were made to correct design errors. Many Chaco pots with design errors were left unaltered. Furthermore, when errors were corrected, revisions were made prior to firing-either by painting directly over the error or by scraping off designs and applying new slip and paint, which is a less time-consuming method than repainting and refiring flawed pots.
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The author of the passage mentions Crown and Wills primarily in order to
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According to the passage, which of the following is true of Bonito phase Chaco pots?
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The primary purpose of the passage is to
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Astronomers have had difficulty accounting for certain planets discovered outside our solar system. They are called hot Jupiters because each is similar in mass to Jupiter, the largest solar-system planet, but orbits its parent star at a fraction of the distance at which Earth, let alone Jupiter, orbits the Sun. In the standard, solar-system-based theory of planetary formation, such as a massive planet could not form so close to a star. So most attempts to explain a hot Jupiter`s existence envision it forming farther away, then migrating inward. According to one hypothesis, the planet`s gravitational field tugs on the protoplanetary disk of dust and gas from which it formed. The disk exerts its own gravitational tug, and this interplay of forces robs the planet of momentum in its orbital path, forcing it to spiral in toward the star. According to another hypothesis, the planet`s gravitational field is so strong that it creates a groove in the disk, partitioning it into inner and outer regions; the resulting gravitational interactions between the planet and these regions cause the planet to lose orbital momentum and spiral inward. Another question remains: what prevents the planet from continuing its spiral until it collides with the star?
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The author of the passage mentions "Earth" primarily in order to
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Astronomers who study planet formation once believed that comets–because they remain mostly in the distant Oort cloud, where temperatures are close to absolute zero-must be pristine relics of the material that formed the outer planets. The conceptual shift away from seeing comets as pristine relics began in the 1970s, when laboratory simulations revealed there was sufficient ultraviolet radiation reaching comets to darken their surfaces and there were sufficient cosmic rays to alter chemical bonds or even molecular structure near the surface. Nevertheless, astronomers still believed that when a comet approached the Sun-where they could study it-the Sun`s intense heat would remove the corrupted surface layer, exposing the interior. About the same time, though, scientists realized comets might contain decaying radioactive isotopes that could have warmed cometary interiors to temperatures that caused the interiors to evolve.
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Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?
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By far the most popular United States literature of its time was a body of now-neglected novels written between 1820 and 1870 by, for, and about women. According to Nina Baym, who has termed this genre "woman`s fiction," the massive popularity of these novels claimed a place for women in the writing profession. The novels chronicle the experiences of women who, beset with hardships, find within themselves qualities of intelligence, will, resourcefulness, and courage sufficient to overcome their obstacles. According to Baym, the genre began with Catharine Sedgwick`s New-England Tale (1822), manifested itself as the best-selling reading matter of the American public in the unprecedented sales of Susan Warner`s Wide, Wide World (1850), and remained a dominant fictional type until after 1870. The critical, as opposed to popular, reception of these novels in their own time was mixed. Theoretical opposition by those who saw fiction as a demoralizing and corrupting influence was by no means dead in mid-nineteenth-century America, and popular successes naturally bore a significant proportion of the attack. The moralistic tone of much woman`s fiction did not placate these antagonists; on the contrary, many clerical opponents of the novel thought that women were trying to take over the clergy`s functions and hence attacked all the more fiercely. Similarly, some male authors, disgruntled by the emergence of great numbers of women writers, expressed contempt for the genre.
On the other hand, the women had a powerful ally-their publishers, who not only put these works into print but advertised them widely and enthusiastically. Some few reviewers wrote about these works with attention and respect, distinguishing between the works of the different authors and identifying individual strengths and weaknesses. These approving contemporary critics were particularly alert to each writer`s contribution to the depiction of American social life, especially to regional differences in manners and character types. On the whole, however, even these laudatory critics showed themselves uninterested in the stories that this fiction told, or in their significance. Baym acknowledges that these novels are telling-with variations-a single familiar tale, and correctly notes that this apparent lack of artistic innovation has been partly responsible for their authors` exclusion from the canon of classic American writers traditionally studied in university literature courses. Baym points out, however, that unlike such male contemporaries as Nathaniel Hawthorne, these women did not conceive of themselves as "artists," but rather as professional writers with work to do and a living to be made from fulfilling an obligation to their audience. This obligation included both entertainment and instruction, which are not, says Baym, at odds with one another in these books, nor is entertainment the sweet coating on a didactic pill. Rather, the lesson itself is an entertainment: the central character`s triumph over adversity is profoundly pleasurable to those readers who identify with her.
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According to the passage, astronomers recognize which of the following as being liable to cause changes to comets?
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The author of the passage suggests that applying the term "confessional" to the work of the poets discussed
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