Question

Difficulty: Very hardInferential Comprehension and Deduction

Read the passage below carefully:

For generations, the traditional indigo dye pits of Abeokuta served not merely as artisanal workshops but as pivotal institutions of communal wealth distribution and female economic autonomy in Southwestern Nigeria. The natural fermentation of Lonchocarpus cyanescens leaves required intricate biochemical precision passed down matrilineally, yielding textiles whose durability and cultural motifs commanded premium value across West African trade routes. However, the mid-twentieth-century influx of synthetic indanthrene dyes and cheap imported printed cottons fundamentally altered this economic landscape. While industrial synthetic dyes drastically reduced processing time from weeks to hours, allowing rapid commercial scaling, they inadvertently degraded the tensile strength of local hand-spun fabrics through acidic residue. Consequently, while contemporary commercial art historians often characterize the transition to synthetic dyes as a triumph of technological democratization that saved the indigenous textile sector from total obsolescence, the concurrent erosion of traditional guild oversight actually stripped master dyers of their price-setting power, transforming autonomous female enterprise owners into wage-dependent piecework processors for urban merchant syndicates.

Statement: Based on the passage, the author implies that the widespread adoption of synthetic dyes in Abeokuta's textile industry ultimately compromised both the structural integrity of the local fabrics and the socio-economic self-determination of traditional female dyers, despite yielding processing efficiencies.

Answer: Answer

Answer

The statement is True.
The deduction is fully supported by the text. The author establishes a clear contrast between efficiency gains and negative consequences, demonstrating that synthetic dyes reduced tensile strength (structural integrity) and reduced autonomous enterprise owners to wage-dependent processors (loss of socio-economic self-determination).

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the passage for evidence regarding fabric quality and structural integrity.
The text notes that synthetic dyes 'inadvertently degraded the tensile strength of local hand-spun fabrics through acidic residue.'
This confirms the first part of the statement regarding physical/structural compromise.
2
Analyze the passage for evidence regarding the socio-economic status of female dyers.
The passage states that the change 'stripped master dyers of their price-setting power, transforming autonomous female enterprise owners into wage-dependent piecework processors.'
This confirms the second part of the statement regarding the loss of economic self-determination.
3
Synthesize the findings against the statement's premise of processing efficiency.
The text acknowledges that processing time was reduced 'from weeks to hours', matching the statement's clause 'despite yielding processing efficiencies.'
Combining steps 1, 2, and 3 establishes that the statement is completely supported by implicit textual evidence.

Key Concept

Inferential Comprehension and Deduction
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