Information and IdeasVery hardFinding that weakens a lead-poisoning claim
Information and Ideas practice question
A historian claims that the decline of a Roman town in the third century was caused by lead poisoning from its water pipes.
Which finding, if true, would most directly weaken the historian's claim?
- A. Skeletons from the town's third-century cemetery show lead levels no higher than those from nearby towns that did not decline.Correct
- B. The town's pipes were made of lead.
- C. Lead is known to be toxic.
- D. The town's population fell by half in the third century.
Answer: A. Skeletons from the town's third-century cemetery show lead levels no higher than those from nearby towns that did not decline.
If the townspeople had no more lead in them than people in towns that thrived, lead can't explain the difference.
Why the other answers are wrong
- B. The town's pipes were made of lead.
- Lead pipes support the claim.
- C. Lead is known to be toxic.
- Lead's toxicity supports the claim.
- D. The town's population fell by half in the third century.
- The decline is the thing being explained, not evidence against the explanation.
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