Section: Critical Reading Section 2
113)
| While it is often helpful to think of humans as simply another successful type of mammal, a vital distinction remains. When a pride of lions enjoys a surfeit of food, they are likely to hunt quickly, |
(5) | eat all they can, then spend the remainder of the day sleeping. When people enjoy such easy living, we see a markedly different pattern—our big brains cause us to be restless, and we engage in play. This takes the form of art, philosophy, sci- |
(10) | ence, even government. So the intelligence and curiosity that allowed early humans to develop agriculture, and thus a caloric surplus, also led to the use of that surplus as a foundation for culture. |
The author most likely cites the behavior of lions in order to
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Explanation
The author says that there’s a difference between humans and other mammals, and uses the lions to illustrate this point. Lions sit around or nap after they eat a lot. People get bored and do stuff. Why is this important? Because this led to the ultimate development of culture. However, only the correct answer includes the author’s point about culture.