16Hit1600
Information and IdeasHardMain idea about an inheritance of knowledge

Information and Ideas practice question

The harbourmaster's chart of the sandbanks is redrawn by hand every spring, as it has been since 1820, because the banks shift with every winter's storms. Each harbourmaster copies the previous year's chart and corrects it; no chart is ever final, and none is ever thrown away.

Which choice best states the main idea of the text?

  1. A. The chart is a living record, revised every year and preserved, because the sandbanks it maps never stop moving.Correct
  2. B. The sandbanks have not moved since 1820.
  3. C. The harbourmaster uses a printed chart.
  4. D. Old charts are destroyed each spring.

Answer: A. The chart is a living record, revised every year and preserved, because the sandbanks it maps never stop moving.

Redrawn yearly, corrected, never final, never discarded.

Why the other answers are wrong

B. The sandbanks have not moved since 1820.
They shift every winter.
C. The harbourmaster uses a printed chart.
It is 'redrawn by hand'.
D. Old charts are destroyed each spring.
'None is ever thrown away.'

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