16Hit1600
Information and IdeasHardEvidence for a claim about a bridge's age

Information and Ideas practice question

A historian claims that the stone bridge is older than the 1750 date carved on its parapet.

Which finding, if true, would most directly support the claim?

  1. A. A map surveyed in 1720 shows a bridge at the same spot, drawn with the same three arches.Correct
  2. B. The bridge's parapet was repaired in 1900.
  3. C. The bridge has three arches.
  4. D. The river has changed its course since 1750.

Answer: A. A map surveyed in 1720 shows a bridge at the same spot, drawn with the same three arches.

A bridge of the same shape on a map thirty years earlier.

Why the other answers are wrong

B. The bridge's parapet was repaired in 1900.
A later repair says nothing about the original date.
C. The bridge has three arches.
The number of arches alone dates nothing.
D. The river has changed its course since 1750.
The river's course does not date the bridge.

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