Information and IdeasEasy–MediumInferring a cause from a change
Information and Ideas practice question
The lighthouse logbook records fewer than a dozen ships passing the headland in the whole of 1890. In 1895 it records more than three hundred. A railway line connecting the harbour town to the interior had opened in 1892.
Based on the text, which statement is most reasonable?
- A. The railway's arrival increased the shipping traffic through the harbour.Correct
- B. The railway caused ships to avoid the harbour.
- C. The lighthouse was built in 1895.
- D. The logbook for 1890 was lost.
Answer: A. The railway's arrival increased the shipping traffic through the harbour.
Shipping jumped from under a dozen to over three hundred, and the one change the text mentions in between is the railway. Goods arriving by rail would need ships to carry them onward — the most reasonable link.
Why the other answers are wrong
- B. The railway caused ships to avoid the harbour.
- Traffic ROSE after the railway opened, so the railway didn't drive ships away.
- C. The lighthouse was built in 1895.
- The logbook records 1890, so the lighthouse existed well before 1895.
- D. The logbook for 1890 was lost.
- The text quotes the 1890 logbook's figures, so it wasn't lost.
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