Questions: The passage suggests that most seventeenth-century European settlers would have assumed that the abundance of deer and other game animals in southern New England: had occurred without any human intervention

The answer is "had occurred without any human intervention."

This option suggests that the abundance of game animals was linked to agricultural practices. However, seventeenth-century European settlers were more likely to view the natural world as separate from human agricultural activities, especially in a new and unfamiliar environment like southern New England.

While a growing human population can indeed threaten wildlife populations, the passage suggests what settlers would have assumed about the existing abundance of game, not about future threats.

Seventeenth-century European settlers often viewed the New World as a wilderness untouched by human hands. They likely assumed that the abundance of game animals was a natural occurrence, not influenced by human activity, especially since they were not yet familiar with the land management practices of Indigenous peoples.

This option implies a level of environmental management that European settlers would not have attributed to the natural landscape of the New World. They were generally unaware of Indigenous practices such as controlled burns, which were used to manage game populations and landscapes.