SOLUTION SECTION
Questions Solving
1. The primary purpose of the passage is to
(A) refute a common misconception
(B) provide support for a hypothesis
(C) analyze an argument
(D) suggest a solution to a dilemma
(E) reconcile opposing viewpoints
Increasingly, historians are blaming diseases imported from the Old World for the staggering disparity between the indigenous population of America in 1492—new estimates of which soar as high as 100 million, or approximately one-sixth of the human race at that time—and the few million full-blooded Native Americans alive at the end of the nineteenth century. There is no doubt that chronic disease was
an important factor in the precipitous decline, and it is
highly probable that the greatest killer was epidemic disease, especially as manifested in virgin-soil epidemics.
BOLD VOCAB SHOW THE AUTHOR WANT TO SAY HYPOTHESIZE
Central idea exercise –
1. The author’s hypothesis that one main reason for the decline of North American population in the fifteenth century was epidemic diseases, especially virgin – soil epidemic.
2. How virgin – soil epidemics make common diseases become fatal for people who have not been exposed to it earlier.
3. Examples from different periods in the history of America, when several lives were lost due to these epidemics, illustrating that even less fatal diseases have tragic consequences when they strike immunologically defenseless communities.
The primary purpose of the author refers to the chief objective of the author in writing the passage. The author is offering a supposition about a theory and then proposing explanations to support it. He states that a primary reason for the decline of population in 15th century. North America may be due to virgin – soil epidemics and then proceeds to elaborate this theory by providing evidence. This is precisely what option (B) states. Hence, it is the correct answer.
There is no misconception that the author is refuting in the passage, so option (A) is incorrect.
The author is not analyzing an argument, hence option (c) is incorrect.
Similarly, the author is neither suggesting a solution, nor reconciling opposing viewpoints. Hence option (D) and (E) can be eliminated too.
2.According to the passage, virgin-soil epidemics can be distinguished from other catastrophic outbreaks of disease in that virgin-soil epidemics
(A) recur more frequently than other chronic diseases
(B) affect a minimum of one-half of a given population
(C) involve populations with no prior exposure to a disease
(D) usually involve a number of interacting diseases
(E) are less responsive to medical treatment than are other diseases
To answer this questions, we need to refer to the first line of the second paragraph, “Virgin-soil epidemics are those in which the populations at risk have had no previous contact with the diseases that strike them and are therefore immunologically almost defenseless.” Option (C) points out the difference between virgin – soil epidemics from other diseases, the way in which the author tries to convey in the passage. Hence it is the correct answer.
All the other options are not mentioned by the author, as the distinguishing factor between virgin –soil epidemics and other diseases. Hence, all can be eliminated.
3.According to the passage, the British colonists were unlike the Spanish colonists in that the British colonists
(A) collected tribute from the native population
(B) kept records from a very early date
(C) drove Native Americans off the land
(D) were unable to provide medical care against epidemic disease
(E) enslaved the native populations in America
We need to refer to the last line of the second paragraph, “Furthermore, the British tended to drive the native populations away, rather than enslaving them as the Spaniards did, so that the epidemics of British America occurred beyond the range of colonists’ direct observation.” It states that the British drove the native population off their lands, rather than enslaving them as the Spaniards did. Hence, option (C) is the correct answer.
Option (A) is not mentioned, hence incorrect.
Option (B) is contrary to the information provided by the author. Hence, this can be eliminated too.
Option (D) is again not mentioned, hence incorrect.
Option (E) is wrong fact, as the lines above suggest. Hence incorrect.
Level of difficulty
Reading – Medium
Questions – Medium
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