Paracompletion Question 5 - CAT 2023
Sentence: And probably much earlier, moving the documentation for kissing back 1,000 years compared to what was acknowledged in the scientific community.
Paragraph: Research has hypothesised that the earliest evidence of human lip kissing originated in a very specific geographical location in South Asia 3,500 years ago. (1). From there it may have spread to other regions, simultaneously accelerating the spread of the herpes simplex virus 1. According to Dr Troels Pank Arbiøll and Dr Sophie Lund Rasmussen, who in a new article in the journal Science draw on a range of written sources from the earliest Mesopotamian societies, kissing was already a well-established practice 4,500 years ago in the Middle East. (2). In ancient Mesopotamia, people wrote in cuneiform script on clay tablets. (3). Many thousands of these clay tablets have survived to this day, and they contain clear examples that kissing was considered a part of romantic intimacy in ancient times. (4). “Kissing could also have been part of friendships and family members’ relations,” says Dr Troels Pank Arbiøll, an expert on the history of medicine in Mesopotamia.
Step-by-Step Explanation
The sentence fits best in Option 2 because it adds more detail to the timeline being discussed. At this point, the paragraph has already introduced when the scientific community believed something happened, so the given sentence naturally adds another perspective and develops that idea further.
The first position doesn’t work because the sentence doesn’t directly connect with what comes before it. The third position would interrupt an already clear connection between the sentences about the clay tablets. The fourth position also doesn’t fit because the paragraph has already moved on to a different point by then.
Therefore, Option 2 is the best choice.