PART A: Which statement best expresses the central idea of the text? (RI.2)
A. Scientists continue to study the plague’s spread through Europe in the 14th century because they can’t understand how it spread so aggressively.
B. Upper-class people lost their influence over lower classes of people as it became clear that even they would not be spared from the plague.
C. The plague modernized health and medicine in Europe as people realized that doctors were unintentionally spreading the plague rather than treating it.
D. While the plague was devastating to Europe’s population, it also reshaped their social order to allow for greater equality.

PART B: Which detail from the text best supports the answer to Part A? (RI.1)
A. “Common medicinal practices of the time period, like bloodletting, would have also contributed to the spread of the disease. For example, high standards of hygiene were not practiced; physicians didn’t even wash their hands.” (Paragraph 7)
B. “Many lost faith in the Catholic Church as people continued to die from the plague. Some converted to Protestantism, while others became more interested in secular ideas about the world.” (Paragraph 13)
C. “Scientists and historians today still study the Black Death. They continue to develop vaccines, but with our current knowledge of bacteria, it is no longer the threat it once was.” (Paragraph 16)
D. “The plague upended traditional structures like religion and feudalism that were once the cornerstones of medieval life. It redirected the path of European history, propelling it towards the modern age, though at the cost of millions of lives.” (Paragraph 17)