Question

when a team of paleoanthropologists announced in a 2004 nature article that bones from the liang bua cave on the indonesian island of flores belonged to a new hominin species, homo floresiensis, headlines quickly dubbed the find the hobbit. the skeletons small stature and brain size seemed to challenge linear stories in which human evolution always moves toward larger bodies and expanded cognition. over the next two decades, however, researchers reexamined the fossils using ct scans and comparative anatomy. some argued that the remains might instead represent modern humans with developmental disorders, while others defended the original species designation. by tracing how museums such as the smithsonians national museum of natural history have updated their exhibit labels and reconstructions in response to these studies, historians of science can show that the debate is not just about fossils, but about which narratives of human ancestry gain institutional authority.

6 □ mark for review
which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole?
a it introduces the initial scientific evidence used to justify classifying homo floresiensis as a new species.

b it illustrates through museum practices how the homo floresiensis debate extends beyond fossil interpretation to questions of which evolutionary narratives institutions endorse.

c it uses changes in museum displays as a concrete example that challenges the idea that arguments over homo floresiensis are also arguments about which stories of human ancestry institutions endorse.

d it shifts the focus away from scientific debates and toward a critique of museum visitors misunderstanding of evolutionary theory.

Explanation:

• Option A: The underlined sentence is not about initial evidence for classifying the new species (that was earlier in the text), so A is wrong.
• Option B: The underlined sentence shows historians use museum label/update examples to show the debate is about institutional - endorsed evolutionary narratives (beyond just fossil interpretation), which matches.
• Option C: The sentence supports, not challenges, the idea that the debate is about institutional narratives, so C is wrong.
• Option D: The sentence doesn't critique museum visitors' misunderstanding; it's about museum practices and the debate's nature, so D is wrong.

Answer:

B. It illustrates through museum practices how the Homo floresiensis debate extends beyond fossil interpretation to questions of which evolutionary narratives institutions endorse.