16Hit1600
Information and IdeasHardInference from an unexpected survival

Information and Ideas practice question

Seeds stored in a lakeside cellar that flooded in 1920 were recovered a century later and planted. Most did not sprout, but a few of the seeds from one species did, and their descendants now grow in the botanic garden. This suggests that ____

Which choice most logically completes the text?

  1. A. seeds of that species can remain viable for far longer than the others in the cellar could.Correct
  2. B. all seeds can survive a century underwater.
  3. C. the cellar never actually flooded.
  4. D. the botanic garden planted the seeds in 1920.

Answer: A. seeds of that species can remain viable for far longer than the others in the cellar could.

Most failed; one species sprouted after a hundred years: that species is unusually long-lived.

Why the other answers are wrong

B. all seeds can survive a century underwater.
Most of the seeds did not sprout.
C. the cellar never actually flooded.
The flooding is given as fact.
D. the botanic garden planted the seeds in 1920.
They were planted a century later.

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