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Information and IdeasMediumFinding supporting a claim about a tower's use

Information and Ideas practice question

A historian claims that the town's bell tower also served as a lookout for fires.

Which finding, if true, would most directly support the historian's claim?

  1. A. The town's accounts from the period record payments to a watchman stationed in the tower 'to cry fire'.Correct
  2. B. The bell tower is the tallest building in the town.
  3. C. The tower's bell was recast in 1810.
  4. D. The town suffered a great fire in 1750.

Answer: A. The town's accounts from the period record payments to a watchman stationed in the tower 'to cry fire'.

A paid watchman in the tower whose job was to cry fire is direct evidence of the lookout role.

Why the other answers are wrong

B. The bell tower is the tallest building in the town.
Height makes a lookout possible, not actual.
C. The tower's bell was recast in 1810.
The bell's recasting says nothing about fire-watching.
D. The town suffered a great fire in 1750.
A fire shows a need for a lookout, not that the tower was used as one.

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