16Hit1600
Information and IdeasHardInference about a manuscript's readers

Information and Ideas practice question

The medieval manuscript's margins are crowded with notes in at least six different hands, spanning two centuries, and the pages of its chapter on herbal remedies are worn thin while the chapters on astronomy are almost pristine. From this a historian inferred that the book's owners ____

Which choice most logically completes the text?

  1. A. consulted it repeatedly for practical medical use rather than for its astronomy.Correct
  2. B. never read the book.
  3. C. were mainly interested in astronomy.
  4. D. all lived at the same time.

Answer: A. consulted it repeatedly for practical medical use rather than for its astronomy.

Worn herbal pages, untouched astronomy.

Why the other answers are wrong

B. never read the book.
Six hands of notes show reading.
C. were mainly interested in astronomy.
The astronomy pages are pristine.
D. all lived at the same time.
The notes span two centuries.

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