The correct answer is C
Explanation
Only “desolate...populated” presents the contrast required by the sentence. The words “corrected the notion” signal that the first word in the correct answer must contrast with the second word because that second word corrects the mistaken notion.
Critical Reading > Sentence Completions
Choose the word or set of words that, when inserted in the sentence, best fits the meaning of the sentence as a whole.
Demographers and anthropologists have corrected the notion that European explorers in North America entered a ------- territory by showing that the land in some areas was already as densely ------- as parts of Europe.
(A) fertile . . settled
(B) colossal . . wooded
(C) desolate . . populated
(D) valuable . . exploited
(E) hostile . . concentrated
