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Throughout human history there have been many stringent tabo
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26 Feb 2019, 11:44
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Throughout human history there have been many stringent taboos concerning watching other people eat or eating in the presence of others. There have been attempts to explain these taboos in terms of inappropriate social relationships either between those who are involved and those who are not simultaneously involved in the satisfaction of a bodily need, or between those already satiated and those who appear to be shamelessly gorging. Undoubtedly such elements exist in the taboos, but there is an additional element with' a much more fundamental importance. In prehistoric times, when food was so precious and the on-lookers so hungry, not to offer half of the little food one had was unthinkable since every glance was a plea for life. Further, during those times, people existed in nuclear or extended family groups, and the sharing of food was quite literally supporting one's family or, by extension, preserving one's self.
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72% (02:02) correct
28% (02:14) wrong based on 149 sessions
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23. If the argument in the passage is valid, taboos against eating in the presence of others who are not also eating would be LEAST likely in a society that
(A) had always had a plentiful supply of food (B) emphasized the need to share worldly goods (C) had a nomadic rather than an agricultural way of life (D) emphasized the value of privacy (E) discouraged overindulgence
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86% (00:28) correct
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24. The author's hypothesis concerning the origin of taboos against watching other people eat emphasizes the
(A) general palatability of food (B) religious significance of food (C) limited availability of food (D) various sources of food (E) nutritional value of food
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74% (00:42) correct
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25. According to the passage, the author believes that past attempts to explain some taboos concerning eating are
46% (01:03) correct
54% (00:59) wrong based on 136 sessions
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26. In developing the main idea of the passage, the author does which of the following?
(A) Downplays earlier attempts to explain the origins of a social prohibition. (B) Adapts a scientific theory and applies it to a spiritual relationship. (C) Simplifies a complex biological phenomenon by explaining it in terms of social needs. (D) Reorganizes a system designed to guide personal behavior. (E) Codifies earlier, unsystematized conjectures about family life.
Re: Throughout human history there have been many stringent tabo
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13 Mar 2019, 15:31
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23. The main part of the argument is that the taboo originated in times of food scarcity. To eat and not offer to another was to condemn that other to hunger or worse. If food was plentiful, though, then one wouldn't have to worry about the welfare of the other when it came to food.
24. As mentioned for the previous question, the origination of the taboo, according to the author, had to do with the scarcity of food. There wasn't enough to go around, so to hoard it for oneself, eating while another watches hungrily, would be taboo.
25. The second sentence outlines several possible explanations. The author admits the truth of these explanations, saying that "such elements exist" in the taboos, but that there is a more important element. The past attempts, then, were not untrue, they were simply incomplete.
26. While the author does definitely acknowledge past explanations, she does not seem to give them much weight, dismissing them as much less fundamental than her own point.
Re: Throughout human history there have been many stringent tabo
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08 Jul 2020, 01:14
May someone explains 26 ? The author didn't downplay, he said that " such elements exist in the taboos, but there is an additional element with' a much more fundamental importance.".
Re: Throughout human history there have been many stringent tabo
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10 Jul 2020, 05:18
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I think that question 26 is the most difficult. I had doubts about option C and option A. But option A is clearly the correct one due to that is mentioned:
Quote:
There have been attempts to explain these taboos in terms of inappropriate social relationships either between those who are involved and those who are not simultaneously involved in the satisfaction of a bodily need...
And then the author developed the argument based on these previous attempts.
Re: Throughout human history there have been many stringent tabo
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12 Jul 2020, 07:00
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If someone is saying that an element has a "much more fundamental importance", I think that it is safe to say that the other element was not as fundamentally important, which is downplaying it. In addition, as jgastelor pointed out, the phrase "there have been attempts" means that it is only an attempt and it is not quite there.
Furthermore, to make sure you don't choose C, you also have to understand what the main idea of the passage is - the main idea is not to talk about all the possible explanations for why this taboo happened, the main idea is his point that it was taboo because it would have starved the rest of the person's family. I believe that the phrase "fundamental importance" tells me that the author considers the last part to be much more important than the first part and for it to be the main idea.
Re: Throughout human history there have been many stringent tabo
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16 Jul 2020, 15:10
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There have been attempts to explain these taboos in terms of inappropriate social relationships either between those who are involved and those who are not simultaneously involved in the satisfaction of a bodily need, or between those already satiated and those who appear to be shamelessly gorging.
>>>>>>
Undoubtedly such elements exist in the taboos, but there is an additional element with' a much more fundamental importance.
(A)Downplaysearlierattemptsto explain the origins of a social prohibition.
Downplaysearlierattempts= but there is an additional element with' a much more fundamental importance
For this reason A is correct
(B) Adapts a scientific theory and applies it to a spiritual relationship.
No theory is explained in the passage just an additional element
(C) Simplifies a complex biological phenomenon by explaining it in terms of social needs.
There were certain habits and an explanation of them. No simplification
(D) Reorganizes a system designed to guide personal behavior.
No reorganization is shown
(E) Codifies earlier, unsystematized conjectures about family life.
I do not know what that means but organized stuff do not emerge from the passage. I.E. I do not see what E telling us
Re: Throughout human history there have been many stringent tabo
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30 Sep 2024, 08:15
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Re: Throughout human history there have been many stringent tabo [#permalink]