Reading Comprehension

PT126 · S2 · P2 · Q12 Purple Loosestrife

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The following passages concern a plant called purple loosestrife.

Topic

The ecological and sociological perspectives on the spread and control of purple loosestrife, an invasive wetland plant.

Framework

Present Debate

Main Point

The two passages offer contrasting views: Passage A (science perspective) focuses on the negative ecological impact of purple loosestrife and emphasizes the need for scientific control, while Passage B (sociological perspective) challenges the framing of loosestrife as purely an environmental threat and suggests that social/economic motivations underlie the push for its control. *Most Valuable Sentences:* - Passage A: (end of Passage A) - Passage B: (end of Passage B)

P1 (Passage A): Description of Invasion and Impact

This paragraph introduces purple loosestrife as a highly invasive species with a big negative impact on native wetland plants and possibly wildlife. It discusses how hard it is to control, describes failed and limited management efforts, and notes that research on long-term solutions is lacking.

P2 (Passage A): Call for Action & Control Methods

Here, the scientific report urges the need for integrated management and stresses that early intervention is key to minimizing ecological damage.

P1 (Passage B): Critique of the “War” on Loosestrife

The sociological voice jumps in here, calling out how loosestrife control is justified as an environmental crusade. The paragraph suggests that the framing is as much about the cultural story we tell (nature vs. invasive weed) as it is about real environmental danger.

12.

Which one of the following is true about the relationship between the two passages?

  1. Passage A presents evidence that

    Unsupported: directly counters

    Passage A presented evidence such as this: - more than 50% of biomass has been displaced by PL - impact on wildlife haven't been well studied (but serious reductions in waterfowl and aquatic furbearer have been observed) - several endangered species are threatened with further degradation of breeding habitat Passage B acknowledges that the purple loosestrife literature, scientific and otherwise, dutifully discusses the impacts of the weed on endangered species -- and on threatened biodiversity more generally. This basically refers back to Passage A's evidence. Does passage B say those claims are untrue? No, she says, regardless of the perceived and actual ecological effects .... Which means, "I'm not going to even talk about the perceived/actual effects of the purple invader". She just wants to talk about the disingenuous narrative of "liberating nature from PL", when she thinks the movement originated as an instrument to control nature in order to satisfy the wishes of humans who hunt game birds.

    8% picked this

  2. Passage B assumes what passage

    Opposite

    This makes it seem like the two passages are fundamentally aligned / sympathetic. But the opposite is true. Passage A is sounding the ecological alarm over PL, and Passage B is saying, "Chillax. You're just mad that PL is dominating because of your own desire to have these wetlands the way you want them. There's no strong evidence this is harming anything other than your conception of how this habitat should be."

    3% picked this

  3. Correct

    Passage B displays an awareness

    Why this is right

    Passage B almost feels like a response to Passage A, and other "hysterical warnings" like it. Passage B displays an awareness of passage A throughout its first paragraph, summarizing the arguments / evidence that Passage A put forth to convince us we should be concerned about PL. But passage A never displays an awareness of this counterargument that, "Y'all want to get rid of PL because it was messing up your ability to hunt birds, which then gets in the way of businesses that make money via hunting / trapping / recreation revenues".

    Skill tested: Method · how this choice captures the passage's function is the move to repeat next time.

    85% picked this

  4. Passage B advocates a policy

    Reversed

    Passage B doesn't advocate any policy, unless we interpret the implicit main point of, "Chill out about loosestrife, y'all, or at least be more honest about why you're worried about it", to be a policy. But that's stretching the limits of saying that Passage B ever advocated a policy. This answer seems to be really testing a reversed relationship. Passage A advocates a policy: with the spread of PL growing exponentially, some form of integrated control is needed. And Passage B rejects that notion.

    2% picked this

  5. Passage A downplays the seriousness

    Reversed

    Passage B downplays the seriousness of the claims made in Passage A.

    3% picked this

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