PTE Reading

Multiple Choice, Single Answer

1 questions. Answer them all, then submit once for your section score.

Pearson Test of English — TestDayTwin Practice

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Read the passage and answer the question.

Board games are often assumed to be a relatively modern form of entertainment, yet archaeologists have uncovered game boards and carved pieces in burial sites thousands of years old, suggesting that structured tabletop play predates most written languages. Because the exact rules of these ancient games were rarely recorded, researchers must often infer how a game was played from the physical evidence alone, including wear patterns on the board and the shapes of surviving pieces, a process that leaves considerable room for scholarly disagreement. Some ancient games appear to have combined elements of strategy and chance, using carved sticks or animal bones as an early form of dice. Unlike many contemporary board games, which are designed and sold by identifiable companies, these ancient games evolved through generations of informal play, with no single inventor and no fixed original rule set to reference.

Based on the passage, why is it often difficult for researchers to determine exactly how ancient board games were played?

The original rule sets were deliberately kept secret by their inventorsWritten rules for the games were rarely recorded, leaving only physical evidenceThe games were only ever played informally and never using physical boardsAncient dice were made of materials that have since disintegrated completely