16Hit1600
Information and IdeasHardInference from a pattern in records

Information and Ideas practice question

The parish burial register for 1665 lists three times the usual number of deaths, nearly all between July and October, and many entries carry no name, only 'a stranger' or 'a child of the road'. ____

Which choice most logically completes the text?

  1. A. The parish seems to have suffered an epidemic that year that also struck people passing through.Correct
  2. B. The parish clerk was careless in 1665.
  3. C. Fewer people died in 1665 than usual.
  4. D. The register for 1665 is a forgery.

Answer: A. The parish seems to have suffered an epidemic that year that also struck people passing through.

Three times the deaths, clustered in summer, strangers among them: an epidemic.

Why the other answers are wrong

B. The parish clerk was careless in 1665.
The nameless entries are travellers, not clerical errors.
C. Fewer people died in 1665 than usual.
Three times the usual.
D. The register for 1665 is a forgery.
Not suggested.

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