▶ Your Answer : According to the reading, there is ample support for the author's claim that advanced civilization in the Amazon is questionable. However, the professor in the lecture gives several reasons as a rebuttal to the author's point.
First, the professor contends that it is not true that the civilization could not have formed due to the dense jungle. He argues that the satellite image shows that there are canal and way to move around. It means that Amazon people were able to work together and build a civilization. This counts doubt on the reading passage's claim that it was impossible to form a civilization because of the dense jungle.
Second, the professor insists that it is easy to find a lot of elaborate artifacts. For example, in the certain island in the Amazon, ceramic vessls and bowls were found. These artifacts can only be made by highly developed civilization. This counters the reading passage's assertion that the Amazon civilization is doubtful because excavated products were less sophisticated.
Finally, the professor \argues that the reason why the European expeditions failed is the vast land of the Amazon. To explain, it is easy to obscure the advanced cities since the Amazon rain forest is more than 5 millions kilometer square. Also, the famous civilization, Angkor Wat, was also found mid of 1900s. This refutes the reading passage's suggestion that there were only several scattered tribes which were not a civilization. |