3. Archaeologist: Researchers excavating a burial site in Cyprus found a feline skeleton lying near a human skeleton. Both skeletons were in the same sediment at the same depth and equally welt-preserved, suggesting that the feline and human were buried together about 9,500 years ago. This shows that felines were domesticated around the time farming began, when they would have been useful in protecting stores of grain from mice.
Which of the following, if true, would most seriously weaken the archaeologist's argument?

A、 Archaeologists have not found any remains of stores of grain in the immediate vicinity of the burial site.
B、 The burial site in Cyprus is substantially older than any other known burial site in which a feline skeleton and a human skeleton appear to have been buried together.
C、 Paintings found near the burial site seem to show people keeping felines as domestic companions, but do not show felines hunting mice.
D、 In Cyprus, there are many burial sites dating from around 9,500 years ago in which the remains of wild animals appear to have been buried alongside human remains.
E、 Before felines were domesticated, early farmers had no effective way to protect stores of grain from mice.

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】 Argument Evaluation
Situation A human skeleton and a feline skeleton were apparently buried together in Cyprus about 9,500
years ago.
Reasoning What would most strongly suggest that the skeletons do not show that felines were domesticated around
the time farming began? The argument implicitly assumes that farming in Cyprus began around
9,500 years ago, so evidence against that assumption would weaken the argument, The argument
could also be weakened by evidence that felines were domesticated much earlier, that the feline
Skeleton was not from a domesticated cat, or that the two skeletons were not actually buried
together around 9,500 years ago.
A Even if archaeologists searched for evidence of a grain store, the fact that no such evidence was found near the burial site is at best only weak evidence that no grain store existed there or slightly farther away.
B The lack of corroborating evidence from other burial sites would weaken the argument slightly but would still be compatible with the hypothesis that this site revealed one of the very first burials of a domesticated cat.
C This would cast doubt on the hypothesis that cats were domesticated mainly to protect stores of grain, but not on the argument's conclusion that cats were domesticated around the time farming began.
D Correct. If many wild animals were buried alongside humans in Cyprus around 9,500 years ago, then the feline skeleton is just as likely to be that of a wild animal than that of a domesticated cat.
E Since this would provide an additional reason why early farmers might have domesticated the local cats, it would strengthen rather than weaken the argument.
The correct answer is D.