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Information and Ideas practice question

During the region's two-year drought, the reservoir dropped to its lowest level on record, exposing the foundations of a village that had been submerged when the dam was built decades earlier.

Which choice most logically completes the text?

  1. A. The village had been underwater before the drought lowered the reservoir.Correct
  2. B. The village was destroyed by the drought itself.
  3. C. The dam was built to protect the village from flooding.
  4. D. The reservoir had never been full at any point.

Answer: A. The village had been underwater before the drought lowered the reservoir.

The foundations were 'submerged when the dam was built' and only appeared once the water fell, so the village must have been underwater before the drought exposed it (A). B is wrong because the drought revealed the ruins rather than destroying the village, which was flooded decades earlier; C invents a purpose for the dam, and D contradicts that the reservoir had held enough water to submerge the village.

Why the other answers are wrong

B. The village was destroyed by the drought itself.
The drought lowered the water and exposed the foundations — it revealed the ruins rather than destroying them; the village was flooded decades earlier when the dam was built.
C. The dam was built to protect the village from flooding.
The text says the village was submerged when the dam was built, so the dam displaced the village rather than protecting it — the passage never gives the dam's purpose.
D. The reservoir had never been full at any point.
The reservoir had to hold enough water to keep the village submerged for decades, so saying it was never full contradicts the passage.

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