by ManhattanPrepLSAT1 Mon Oct 17, 2016 1:35 pm
This one asks us for an answer choice that the author would most likely agree with regarding the sign for sheep (line 6). We know that the sign for sheep is abstract, it looks nothing like a sheep and answer choice (A) says that the sign could have been replaced with another sign without losing meaning, which is a nice description of abstract. Just like the written word "sheep" looks nothing like a sheep, so too does a circled cross look nothing like a sheep.
Incorrect Answers
(B) is out of scope. We aren't told how the sign for sheep got it's meaning. That's a big unknown.
(C) is out of scope. We aren't told about how the sign represents its meaning.
(D) is contradicted. We know it has "long puzzled researchers." (lines 10-11)
(E) is out of scope. The abstract nature of the sign is not connected to the political life of the people who used cuneiform writing.