Question 121·Hard·Inferences
Anthropologist Lian Zhou studied oral histories from three remote mountain communities that independently developed elaborate myths describing blackberries as "messengers of winter." Zhou found that in each community, the myths guided residents to harvest and dry berries just before the season's first snowfall, ensuring a supply of vitamin-rich food during months when fresh produce was scarce. Zhou concludes that the myths likely arose as practical tools for survival rather than purely symbolic tales, because they encode specific phenological cues: the reddening of berry leaves and the sudden quieting of migratory birds. If Zhou's conclusion is correct, the myths _____
Which choice most logically completes the text?
For logical-completion inference questions, anchor your prediction in the author’s explicit conclusion and the evidence given for it. Paraphrase the conclusion (here: myths as survival tools encoding observable seasonal cues), then pick the choice that matches that function without shifting the focus (e.g., to tradition, labor coordination, or general nutrition) or removing key evidence (the environmental signs).
Hints
Locate Zhou’s conclusion
Focus on the sentence beginning “Zhou concludes that…”. What does Zhou say the myths were for?
Use the phenological cues
Ask what “reddening of berry leaves” and “quieting of migratory birds” do for residents (they’re signals for timing).
Reject choices that downplay environmental signals
Any choice that makes the myths independent of natural signs (or shifts them away from timing guidance) won’t match the conclusion.
Step-by-step Explanation
Identify the claim to extend
The blank depends on Zhou’s conclusion in the final sentence: the myths “likely arose as practical tools for survival” because they “encode specific phenological cues.”
Translate the key evidence
Phenological cues like “reddening of berry leaves” and “quieting of migratory birds” are observable changes in nature that reliably indicate an approaching seasonal shift (first snowfall).
Connect the cues to function
Because the cues help residents time harvesting and drying (so they have vitamin-rich food when produce is scarce), the myths function as a way to preserve and communicate critical environmental observations for survival.
Choose the option that matches that function
The option that states the myths were meant to record observable environmental changes tied to community nutrition best matches Zhou’s conclusion: "were originally devised to record observable environmental changes critical to community nutrition."