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Information and IdeasHardInference from growth rings

Information and Ideas practice question

The oak's growth rings are wide and even for its first sixty years, then abruptly narrow for the next fifteen, then wide again. The narrow rings coincide with the years a mill stood upstream, damming the river. This suggests that ____

Which choice most logically completes the text?

  1. A. the dam reduced the water reaching the oak's roots, slowing its growth until the mill was gone.Correct
  2. B. the oak was planted when the mill was built.
  3. C. the mill used the oak's wood.
  4. D. the oak stopped growing when the dam was removed.

Answer: A. the dam reduced the water reaching the oak's roots, slowing its growth until the mill was gone.

Narrow rings mean slow growth; they match the dam years exactly; the rings widen again afterwards.

Why the other answers are wrong

B. the oak was planted when the mill was built.
The oak had sixty years of rings before the narrow period.
C. the mill used the oak's wood.
Nothing suggests the tree was cut.
D. the oak stopped growing when the dam was removed.
The rings are wide again after the mill years — growth resumed.

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