According to statistician Nassim Nicholas Taleb, the best way to predict the amount of time a nonperishable entity (such as a building or a technology) will continue to exist is to examine how long it has survived so far. In this view, an item’s age is the strongest____how much longer it will last.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

The details and facts help to draw the main idea of the passage.

Can you summarize what you’ve understood in the above steps?

Choice A is incorrect. The passage tells us that examining an item’s age is the best way to predict how much longer it will last. Therefore, according to Taleb’s theory, an item’s age should add more certainty about how much longer it will last.

uncertainty about

Choice B is the correct answer. “Indicator” means “something that shows or suggests,” which matches Taleb’s argument that an item’s age can suggest how much longer it will last.

indicator of

Choice C is incorrect. A “motivation” is “a reason for doing.” Items don’t have feelings and motivations, so it wouldn’t make sense to say that their age is a motivation for how much longer they will last.

motivation for

Choice D is incorrect. “Criticism” can mean“describing faults or problems” or “an analysis of an artistic work.” Neither of these definitions makes sense here. An item’s age can’t be criticized for how much longer it will last.

criticism of

Correct sentence

The choice that logically completes the text - indicator of

Option

B

Can you summarize what you’ve understood in the above steps?