16Hit1600
Craft and StructureHardTwo views on a river's colour

Craft and Structure practice question

Text 1 The river has turned brown, and the tannery upstream is to blame; the colour appeared the week the tannery reopened. Text 2 The river turns brown every autumn when rain washes peat down from the moor, and it did so for a century before the tannery existed. This year the rains came in the same week the tannery reopened.

How would the author of Text 2 most likely respond to Text 1's reasoning?

  1. A. By arguing that the timing is a coincidence, since the river browns every autumn for a reason that predates the tannery.Correct
  2. B. By agreeing that the tannery caused the colour.
  3. C. By denying that the river is brown.
  4. D. By claiming that the tannery never reopened.

Answer: A. By arguing that the timing is a coincidence, since the river browns every autumn for a reason that predates the tannery.

Peat and autumn rain, not the tannery.

Why the other answers are wrong

B. By agreeing that the tannery caused the colour.
Text 2 offers another cause.
C. By denying that the river is brown.
Text 2 accepts the colour.
D. By claiming that the tannery never reopened.
The reopening is not disputed.

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