Single correct option
The sentence below has been removed from the passage. From the options given, choose the position where it best fits.
Sentence: This was not mere superstition, since certain moulds do produce compounds with genuine antibacterial properties.
Paragraph: (1) Long before the formal discovery of antibiotics in the twentieth century, several traditional medical systems independently arrived at the practice of applying mould or fermented plant material to wounds to prevent infection. (2) Ancient Egyptian, Chinese, and Serbian folk remedies, among others, each describe some version of this treatment, developed with no shared contact or common source. (3) It would take Alexander Fleming's 1928 observation of a mould contaminating a bacterial culture, and the subsequent isolation of penicillin, for the mechanism behind these folk practices to be scientifically understood and industrially harnessed. (4) The gap between the folk practice and its scientific explanation spanned, in some cases, several thousand years.
Sentence: This was not mere superstition, since certain moulds do produce compounds with genuine antibacterial properties.
Paragraph: (1) Long before the formal discovery of antibiotics in the twentieth century, several traditional medical systems independently arrived at the practice of applying mould or fermented plant material to wounds to prevent infection. (2) Ancient Egyptian, Chinese, and Serbian folk remedies, among others, each describe some version of this treatment, developed with no shared contact or common source. (3) It would take Alexander Fleming's 1928 observation of a mould contaminating a bacterial culture, and the subsequent isolation of penicillin, for the mechanism behind these folk practices to be scientifically understood and industrially harnessed. (4) The gap between the folk practice and its scientific explanation spanned, in some cases, several thousand years.
- A. Position 1
- B. Position 2
- C. Position 3
- D. Position 4
Show answer and solution
Answer: (B) Position 2
The sentence defends the folk remedies as 'not mere superstition' by citing real antibacterial properties—this must come right after the remedies are described (sentence 2) and before the paragraph moves on to Fleming's later scientific discovery (sentence 3), which explains *why* they worked. Placing it after sentence 2 (i.e., at Position 2, meaning between sentences 2 and 3) preserves this logical bridge; placing it at Position 1, 3, or 4 breaks the flow between description and validation.
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