Single correct option
The domestication of the horse, most archaeologists now agree, occurred on the Pontic-Caspian steppe roughly five and a half thousand years ago, considerably later than the domestication of cattle, sheep or goats. What made the horse different from these earlier domesticates was not merely its use as a food source but the speed and range of movement it conferred on the people who rode it, transforming trade, warfare and the spread of languages across Eurasia within a few centuries of its adoption. Some linguists now argue that the spread of Indo-European languages across the continent tracks the spread of horse-riding cultures more closely than it tracks any earlier agricultural migration.
Which of the following best summarises the paragraph?
Which of the following best summarises the paragraph?
- A. Horses were domesticated before cattle and sheep, making them the first domesticated animals in human history.
- B. Horse domestication on the Pontic-Caspian steppe enabled rapid movement that reshaped trade, warfare and possibly language spread across Eurasia, distinguishing it from earlier domestications.
- C. The spread of Indo-European languages has been definitively proven to follow horse-riding migration routes.
- D. Domesticated horses were primarily valued as a food source, similar to cattle and sheep.
Show answer and solution
Answer: (B) Horse domestication on the Pontic-Caspian steppe enabled rapid movement that reshaped trade, warfare and possibly language spread across Eurasia, distinguishing it from earlier domestications.
The paragraph states horses were domesticated later than cattle/sheep/goats (not first, ruling out A), that their key significance was the mobility they conferred (ruling out D, which claims they were 'primarily valued as a food source'), and that linguists 'argue' rather than have 'definitively proven' a language-spread link (ruling out C). Option B accurately reflects all these points.
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