hard · SAT Reading & Writing
Historian Julian Thorne argues that the rapid expansion of the Silk Road was prompted less by a centralized desire for luxury goods and more by the pragmatic needs of nomadic tribes for agricultural staples. Thorne notes that while silk and spices dominate the written record, archaeological findings at smaller transit points often reveal large quantities of grain and simple textiles.
Which choice most logically completes the text?
- Agricultural staples like grain were valued more highly than silk in every major market along the Silk Road.
- Spices and silk have been the primary focus of Silk Road scholarship for several centuries.
- Nomadic tribes were the only group capable of successfully navigating the difficult terrain of the early Silk Road.
- Silk's prestige may have obscured the fundamental role basic commodities played in the route's early development.
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