This quiz is so hard:

in the early 1800s, potatoes were ireland’s most important crop. they were nutritious and cheap and simple to grow. irish peasants each ate an average of 10 potatoes a day. they also fed their farm animals potatoes so the animals could then provide milk, eggs, and meat. these rural farmers were entirely dependent on potatoes and entirely unprepared when, in 1845, a new form of plant disease spread across ireland, destroying their beloved crop. the result was the great irish famine, a time of widespread starvation, disease, and emigration.
when farmers dug up their potatoes in 1845, they expected to find a great harvest. instead, they discovered rotting potatoes, unfit for consumption. no one knew how to combat the potato blight. the situation grew worse over the next couple of years, and the great irish famine lasted until 1852. its effects, however, are still apparent today.
without the potato, irish farmers, their families, and their animals went hungry. chickens, cows, and other animals starved to death, so the people lost milk, eggs, and meat as well. with their main source of income gone, the irish had to live in poor conditions, where diseases spread unchecked. ireland lost 25% of its population during the famine. over one million people died of starvation and disease. over one million more left ireland to live elsewhere. since then, ireland has never reached its former population of 8 million.

1. select the best paraphrase of the following sentence from the passage according to mla guidelines.

with their main source of income gone, the irish had to live in poor conditions, where diseases spread unchecked.
a-one disease that was common during the great irish famine was typhus. typhus is a bacterial infection that is usually spread by lice or fleas (murray 4).
b-with no potatoes, rural farmers and their families lost much of their earnings. they were forced into poverty, and diseases became far more common (murray 4).
c-the irish lost their main source of income and had to live in poor conditions, where diseases spread unchecked (murray 4).
d-with their main source of income gone, peasants had to live in poor conditions, where diseases spread wildly (murray 4).