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Information and IdeasVery hardInference from a gap in an abbey's accounts

Information and Ideas practice question

The abbey's accounts for 1348 stop in June and resume the following March in a different hand, with the note that the brothers were now few. In 1348 the plague reached the region. A historian could reasonably infer that ____

Which choice most logically completes the text?

  1. A. the plague killed many of the monks, including the one who had kept the accounts.Correct
  2. B. the abbey closed for good in 1348.
  3. C. the monks stopped keeping accounts because they had no money.
  4. D. the new hand belonged to a visitor.

Answer: A. the plague killed many of the monks, including the one who had kept the accounts.

A stopped hand, a new hand, few brothers.

Why the other answers are wrong

B. the abbey closed for good in 1348.
The accounts resumed.
C. the monks stopped keeping accounts because they had no money.
The note explains the gap by numbers, not money.
D. the new hand belonged to a visitor.
Nothing suggests a visitor.

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