TOEFL integrated writing: Chaco housing

Both the reading and the lecture discuss about the great houses. Whereas, the reading explains three theories that might define the purpose of these buildings, the listener avers these points and states that the reading's arguments are not reliable because they don't provide evidences.

The first aspect the reading address is that these houses might have been used as residential buildings. Contrary to this point, the listener express that we cannot consider this structure residential because they don't contain the characteristics necessaries to inhabit people. In other words, the listener believe that inside, buildings don't posses enough fire places to let hundreds of families prepare their foods. So obviously, they are not for human living.

Another noteworthy aspect that the reading posits is that these huge buildings, maybe were used to store large amounts of food. On the opposite direction, the listener doesn't believe that storage was the main used because no evidence support this point, furthermore, excavations in these areas didn't find traces of food. For example, their main crop was maize, and investigators didn't find maize's seeds on the floor of these buildings. So, clearly this theory is not valid.

Finally, the reading discuss the possibility that these enormous buildings have been used to ceremonial celebration due to the fact that investigators found plots remnants. Notwithstanding, the listener claims that pots are not reliable evidences. He thinks that they were used as a place to store waste materials. Indeed, not only pots were present in huge piles of waste material around the buildings, also construction materials, and rocks. Thus, without daubt the listener disregard this theory.