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There is a sentence that is missing in the paragraph below. Look at the paragraph and decide where (option 1, 2, 3, or 4) the following sentence would best fit.

Paragraph: The researchers also uncovered an unexpected genetic link between Native Americans and Japanese people ___ (1) ___ . During the deglaciation period, another group branched out from northern coastal China and travelled to Japan ___ (2) ___ . "We were surprised to find that this ancestral source also contributed to the Japanese gene pool, especially the indigenous Ainus," says Li ___ (3) ___ . They shared similarities in how they crafted stemmed projectile points for arrowheads and spears ___ (4) ___ . "This suggests that the Pleistocene connection among the Americas, China, and Japan was not confined to culture but also to genetics," says senior author Qing-Peng Kong, an evolutionary geneticist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Sentence: The discovery helps to explain archeological similarities between the Paleolithic peoples of China, Japan, and the Americas.

Solution

βœ… Correct Option: 3

From passage: "The researchers also uncovered an unexpected genetic link between Native Americans and Japanese people... 'We were surprised to find that this ancestral source also contributed to the Japanese gene pool, especially the indigenous Ainus,' says Li... They shared similarities in how they crafted stemmed projectile points for arrowheads and spears"

The key insight: The sentence talks about how "the discovery helps to explain archeological similarities" -> This means it should come after the genetic discoveries are explained but before the specific archaeological evidence is mentioned.

Flow analysis: Genetic findings -> Transition sentence about archaeology -> Specific archaeological example -> Final conclusion


πŸ”΄ Option 1 -> too-early -> The genetic discoveries aren't fully explained yet, so mentioning how "the discovery" explains archaeology is premature

πŸ”΄ Option 2 -> context-shift -> Still talking about migration patterns, not ready to connect to archaeology yet

🟒 Option 3 -> perfect-transition -> All genetic findings are complete, now we can bridge to archaeology before giving the specific example

🟠 Option 4 -> too-late -> The archaeological evidence (projectile points) is already mentioned, so explaining how discoveries relate to archaeology comes after the fact

Think of it like this: First tell me all your discoveries -> Then tell me what these discoveries explain -> Then give me the specific example -> Then conclude

Position 3 is the perfect bridge between the genetic findings and the archaeological evidence that follows.

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