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Difficulty: Very hardEvaluating Relevance for Adding or Deleting Content

The following passage is from an essay about maritime archaeology.

**The Preservation of the *Mary Rose***

[1] In 1982, the Tudor warship *Mary Rose* was raised from the Solent seabed after four centuries underwater. [2] The ship’s wooden hull, though remarkably intact, was highly vulnerable to rapid decay once exposed to the air. [3] To prevent the waterlogged oak from shrinking and warping as it dried, conservationists sprayed the hull with polyethylene glycol (PEG), a water-soluble polymer. [4] Over several decades, PEG slowly penetrated the wood cells, replacing the water and supporting the cell walls. [5] Archeologists also recovered thousands of artifacts from the site, including longbows, leather shoes, and pewter plates. [6] Once the wood was fully stabilized, the spraying was stopped, allowing the hull to be slowly air-dried for public display.

The writer is considering deleting Sentence 5 from the passage. Should the writer make this deletion?

  1. A
    Yes, because it contradicts the paragraph's earlier assertion that the wooden hull was the only part of the ship that survived.
  2. B
    No, because it provides historical evidence that explains why the *Mary Rose* was chosen for raising in 1982.
  3. Yes, because it introduces details about the excavation that are tangential to the paragraph's focus on the chemical stabilization of the hull.Answer
  4. D
    No, because it offers essential context about the other types of materials that underwent the PEG conservation process.

Answer

The sentence should be deleted because it introduces details about the excavation that are tangential to the paragraph's focus on the chemical stabilization of the hull.
The paragraph focuses narrowly on the chemical stabilization and preservation of the waterlogged wooden hull of the *Mary Rose* using polyethylene glycol (PEG). Sentence 5 shifts the focus to other artifacts recovered from the site, interrupting the explanation of the wood preservation process. Therefore, deleting the sentence improves the unity and cohesion of the paragraph.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the primary topic and focus of the paragraph.
The paragraph focuses specifically on the scientific and chemical preservation of the *Mary Rose*'s waterlogged wooden hull using polyethylene glycol (PEG) to prevent warping and shrinking.
Understanding the paragraph's precise focus is necessary to evaluate whether Sentence 5 contributes to or disrupts that focus.
2
Analyze the content of Sentence 5 and determine its relation to the paragraph's focus.
Sentence 5 describes various artifacts (longbows, shoes, plates) recovered from the shipwreck site, which does not relate to the chemical stabilization of the wooden hull.
This step determines whether the sentence is relevant or tangential.
3
Evaluate the options to choose the one that correctly identifies the decision to delete the sentence and provides the correct rhetorical justification.
The option advocating for deletion because the details are tangential to the focus on chemical stabilization of the hull is correct.
This matches the logical reasoning that irrelevant details should be removed to maintain paragraph unity.

Key Concept

Evaluating Relevance for Adding or Deleting Content
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Evaluating Relevance for Adding or Deleting Content

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