Information and IdeasHardInference from a surprising absence
Information and Ideas practice question
The 1850 census lists 40 households in the valley, but the parish burial register records only two deaths there in the following decade, far fewer than the dozen or so expected for a community that size. Historians note that the valley's mine closed in 1851. This suggests that ____
Which choice most logically completes the text?
- A. most of the households left the valley soon after the mine closed.Correct
- B. the valley's residents were unusually healthy.
- C. the census overcounted the households.
- D. the burial register was kept carefully.
Answer: A. most of the households left the valley soon after the mine closed.
Too few deaths for 40 households, and the mine closed: the people moved away.
Why the other answers are wrong
- B. the valley's residents were unusually healthy.
- A community five times healthier than average is less likely than departure after the mine closed.
- C. the census overcounted the households.
- Nothing suggests the census was wrong; the mine closure explains the change.
- D. the burial register was kept carefully.
- Careful record-keeping would not reduce the number of deaths.
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