16Hit1600
Craft and StructureHardTwo texts on the cause of a famine

Craft and Structure practice question

Text 1 The famine of 1847 was caused by the failure of the potato crop; when the harvest rotted, a population that depended on it had nothing to eat. Text 2 The blight explains the shortage but not the deaths. Grain continued to be exported from the island throughout 1847, and famine relief was withdrawn on the grounds that it discouraged work. Crop failure became catastrophe through policy.

Based on the texts, how would the author of Text 2 most likely respond to the explanation in Text 1?

  1. A. By accepting that the blight caused the shortage while arguing that political decisions turned the shortage into mass death.Correct
  2. B. By denying that the potato crop failed.
  3. C. By agreeing that the crop failure alone explains the famine.
  4. D. By claiming that grain exports had stopped.

Answer: A. By accepting that the blight caused the shortage while arguing that political decisions turned the shortage into mass death.

Blight granted; policy blamed for the deaths.

Why the other answers are wrong

B. By denying that the potato crop failed.
Text 2 accepts the blight.
C. By agreeing that the crop failure alone explains the famine.
Text 2 says the blight does not explain the deaths.
D. By claiming that grain exports had stopped.
Text 2 says exports continued.

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