单选题 The evolutionary origins of music are wrapped in mystery. There is ample concrete evidence of musical instruments dating back to the Stone Age and much presumptive evidence about the role of music in organizing work groups, hunting parties, and religious rites. Many scholars suspect that musical and linguistic expression had common origins but then split off from one another several hundred thousand years ago.
4. The phrase split off in the passage is closest in meaning to

【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】Split off means separated in this context. Clues: ...had common origins but then from one another several hundred thousand years ago.