16Hit1600
Information and IdeasEasy–MediumQuotation supporting a claim about a character's stubbornness

Information and Ideas practice question

A student argues that the farmer Dougal in the story refuses to change his methods even when shown they no longer work.

Which quotation from the story would best support the student's claim?

  1. A. 'The agronomist showed him the figures twice, and Dougal thanked her, folded the paper into his pocket, and sowed the same seed in the same field the next morning.'Correct
  2. B. 'Dougal had farmed the valley for forty years.'
  3. C. 'He tried the new seed on the lower field and, seeing the yield, ordered more.'
  4. D. 'The figures were, the agronomist admitted, incomplete.'

Answer: A. 'The agronomist showed him the figures twice, and Dougal thanked her, folded the paper into his pocket, and sowed the same seed in the same field the next morning.'

Shown the figures, thanked her, did the same thing anyway: refusal to change.

Why the other answers are wrong

B. 'Dougal had farmed the valley for forty years.'
Long experience isn't refusal.
C. 'He tried the new seed on the lower field and, seeing the yield, ordered more.'
Adopting the new seed is the opposite of the claim.
D. 'The figures were, the agronomist admitted, incomplete.'
Incomplete figures might excuse him, but the quotation doesn't show refusal.

More Information and Ideas questions

Not affiliated with the College Board. SAT is a trademark of the College Board.