Looks like a substandard passage.
Consider question 1:
1. The Organization of the passage could best be described as :
(A) Discussing a controversial scientific discovery
(B) Contrasting previous theories of development with current findings
(C) Illustrating a contention with a specific example
(D) Arguing for the importance of a particular field of study
(E) Refuting a popular misconception
The OA is C. But choice C doesn't say, "A contention followed by an illustration" but instead "illustrating a contention with a specific example". One can indeed understand what the sentence means but a quality question needs to have greater clarity.
Also, except for choice C, the other choices sound more like asking the main idea of the passage rather than the organization of the passage
Choice B in fact sounds a better choice because, in the passage, the new findings are contrasted with existing theories. In both the paragraphs, the author indeed does say that the current findings are totally different from all the existing theories.
Now consider question 4:
4. It can be inferred from the passage's description of the discovered fossil hyoid bone that
(A) Australopithecus afarensis were capable of speech
(B) the discovered hyoid bone is less primitive than the hyoid bone of apes
(C) the hyoid bone is necessary for speech
(D) the discovery of the hyoid bone necessitated the reexamination of prior theories
(E) The hyoid bone was the most important fossil found at the site
This is an inference question. So we expect some reasoning to be done. But the OA is D which is more of a paraphrase of ,"hyoid bone, a rarely preserved bone in the larynx that supports muscles of the throat, has had a tremendous impact on the theories about the origins of speech."
Choice B in my opinion is better because the passage says that the hyoid bone is more similar to that of apes than that of humans. This means the hyoid bone of the species is less primitive than that of the apes.
Consider question 1:
1. The Organization of the passage could best be described as :
(A) Discussing a controversial scientific discovery
(B) Contrasting previous theories of development with current findings
(C) Illustrating a contention with a specific example
(D) Arguing for the importance of a particular field of study
(E) Refuting a popular misconception
The OA is C. But choice C doesn't say, "A contention followed by an illustration" but instead "illustrating a contention with a specific example". One can indeed understand what the sentence means but a quality question needs to have greater clarity.
Also, except for choice C, the other choices sound more like asking the main idea of the passage rather than the organization of the passage
Choice B in fact sounds a better choice because, in the passage, the new findings are contrasted with existing theories. In both the paragraphs, the author indeed does say that the current findings are totally different from all the existing theories.
Now consider question 4:
4. It can be inferred from the passage's description of the discovered fossil hyoid bone that
(A) Australopithecus afarensis were capable of speech
(B) the discovered hyoid bone is less primitive than the hyoid bone of apes
(C) the hyoid bone is necessary for speech
(D) the discovery of the hyoid bone necessitated the reexamination of prior theories
(E) The hyoid bone was the most important fossil found at the site
This is an inference question. So we expect some reasoning to be done. But the OA is D which is more of a paraphrase of ,"hyoid bone, a rarely preserved bone in the larynx that supports muscles of the throat, has had a tremendous impact on the theories about the origins of speech."
Choice B in my opinion is better because the passage says that the hyoid bone is more similar to that of apes than that of humans. This means the hyoid bone of the species is less primitive than that of the apes.