Question

first read: comprehension
identify the choice that best answers the question.

according to \titanic vs. lusitania,\ which is an accurate comparison of the time it took for the two ships to sink?

a. the titanic sank much faster than the lusitania.
b. the two ships sank in about the same amount of time.
c. the titanic took a few minutes longer to sink than the lusitania did.
d. the titanic took more than two hours longer to sink than the lusitania did.

Explanation:

Analyze the question requirements

The question asks for an accurate comparison of the sinking times of the Titanic and the Lusitania based on the text "Titanic vs. Lusitania." This requires applying Reading Comprehension to retrieve historical details from the comparative text.

Recall historical details from the text

In comparative studies of the two disasters (such as the article "Titanic vs. Lusitania"), the sinking times are key points of contrast:

• The Titanic struck an iceberg and took approximately 2 hours and 40 minutes (160 minutes) to sink.
• The Lusitania was torpedoed by a German U-boat and sank extremely rapidly, in about 18 minutes.
• Comparing these two times, the Titanic took more than two hours longer to sink than the Lusitania did.

Evaluate the given options

Using Comparative Text Analysis to evaluate each choice:

• Option A: "The Titanic sank much faster than the Lusitania." This is factually incorrect; the Titanic took much longer.
• Option B: "The two ships sank in about the same amount of time." This is incorrect; 18 minutes versus nearly 3 hours is a massive difference.
• Option C: "The Titanic took a few minutes longer to sink than the Lusitania did." This is incorrect; the difference is measured in hours, not minutes.
• Option D: "The Titanic took more than two hours longer to sink than the Lusitania did." This is correct because the Titanic took about 2 hours and 40 minutes, while the Lusitania took 18 minutes. The difference is indeed over 2 hours.

Answer:

• (A) The Titanic sank much faster than the Lusitania.
• (B) The two ships sank in about the same amount of time.
• (C) The Titanic took a few minutes longer to sink than the Lusitania did.
• (D) The Titanic took more than two hours longer to sink than the Lusitania did. (Correct answer)