Read the excerpt from The Time Traveler's Guide to
Which sentence is irrelevant to the central idea of
Elizabethan England by lan Mortimer.
the excerpt?
How do these humors get out of balance? This is
where the overlapping ideas of Elizabethan
© "How do these humors get out of balance?"
medicine might leave you a little confused. By far
O "This is where the overlapping ideas of
the most important cause is divine intervention.
Elizabethan medicine might leave you a little
People believe that illnesses may be sent to punish
confused.
them for a sin-or simply because God wants them
"By far the most important cause is divine
to die and go to Heaven. Some hold that God, by
intervention."
sending them an illness, is giving them a chance to
• "People believe that illnesses may be sent (O
atone for some previous transgression through
punish them for a sin-or simply because God
suffering, and sO they are thankful for their affliction.
wants them to die and go to Heaven.'
Other causes of illness are old age, excitement, or
contagion through close proximity to other ill people
and decaying matter. Filthy areas such as stagnant
pools and dead bodies create a miasma around
them, and if the air or water of a miasma enters the
bodv. it disrupts the humors,