SAT OwlQuestion bank / Central Ideas and Details
In 1902, officials in Hanoi, then under French colonial rule, tried to control a rat infestation by paying residents a small bounty for each rat tail they turned in. At first the program seemed to work, as thousands of tails were collected each day. Before long, however, officials began noticing rats without tails running through the streets. Historian Michael Vann, who studied the episode, found that some residents had been cutting off tails and releasing the rats so they could breed and produce more tails to sell. The program, meant to shrink the rat population, had given people a reason to keep it large.
According to the text, what undermined the bounty program?
Residents collected tails from rats that had died naturally instead of hunting live rats.
The bounty was too small to persuade most residents to take part.
Some residents found a way to collect the bounty that depended on rats staying alive and breeding.
Officials miscounted the tails turned in, which made the program look more successful than it was.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C
Because officials paid for tails rather than dead rats, some residents cut off tails, released the rats, and let them breed to produce more tails. The text's last sentence says the program gave people a reason to keep the rat population large. Choice C describes this.
Choice D is tempting because the program only "seemed to work" at first, but the text blames residents' tail-cutting and breeding, not a counting error.
Why the other choices are wrong
- A. The text states residents cut tails from live rats and released them to breed, not that they collected tails from naturally dead rats.
- B. The passage notes thousands of tails were collected daily, showing the bounty successfully motivated participation rather than failing to persuade residents.
- D. The text attributes the program's failure to residents cutting tails and releasing rats to breed, not to officials miscounting the tails turned in.
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