LSAT 104, Section 2, RC Passage 4, Mayan Collapse

RC Passage 4 Explanation

Paragraph Summaries

1. John Lowe uses monuments to determine when Classic Mayan civilization collapsed.
2. Population growth, agricultural decline and war led to the Mayan collapse.
3. Lowe’s hypothesis might be disproved by better data.

Analysis

The author thinks Lowe’s theory could be true (lines 21-24), but they caution against being too certain. New archaeological information can disprove any theory made using only the archaeological record (lines 51-53).

Understanding that single paragraph I wrote will let you understand every question. This passage is less complicated than most.

The first paragraph describe’s Lowe’s method. The second paragraph describes his explanation. The third paragraph gives us the author’s critique.