Hey everyone!! Can someone please explain how to solve the below question? According to the solution video provided for this question, the answers to the three blanks are as provided in the below snapshot. However, I believe that the answer to blank 1 should be “refined”, instead of “primeval”. The reason behind this is that the phrase “not representative of _______ humans” is coupled with “features ________ of modern humans” implies that the blank 1 should be indicative of “modern”. The only word suggesting evolved for blank 1 is “refined”.
This one is a bit tricky. Using the definition: “of or relating to the earliest ages (as of the world or human history)”
then primeval homo sapiens means the earliest humans. That is, the fossils still have to be human like modern people. The fact that they have facial features larger than us means they are actually “beyond” primeval homo sapiens (humans). So its like saying a wolf’s fossil is not representative of primeval dogs. This one requires a tiny bit of intuition that homo sapiens = humans.
You are right that the fossils are also not representative of a refined version of homo sapiens. However the key isn’t if they are refined, it’s whether they are homo sapiens at all. Then, the researchers concede a point about how the fossils are similar to humans in the brain size.
So the overall arc goes like this: The skull fossils are not from the earliest humans because their faces are too big compared to ours. However, the researchers at least concede that the fossil’s brain would be similar in size to ours.
I hope this made sense!
Hey Kevin, thanks for responding, and I do apologize for the delay in my reply, I had work during the day. I understand the perspective put forth by you, but I’m not satisfied by the explanation. A similar brain size would indicate similar proportion of facial features, thus supporting my viewpoint. Also, to consider anything extraneous to the information provided in the sentence, even intuitively, would be to tempt fate. But since we are considering it, I would like to counter your intuitive approach with facts: Primeval humans did in fact have larger facial features than modern humans and a modern wolf’s fossil is representative of primeval dogs as they are descended from wolves. So the answer to blank 1 should still be “refined” in my opinion.
Additionally, I forgot to present another perspective in my post, which is that if “emulate” is chosen as the answer to blank 2, then the answer choice for blank 1 could be “primeval”, This seems more apt to me because the fossil would be representative of a modern version of humans since the facial features are similar and it matches with the idea of humans having similar brain sizes. So, in my opinion, this question is a 2-blanker, with two possible combinations of answer choices.