Reading Comprehension

PT135 · S3 · P4 · Q27 Confronting Agricultural Overproduction in Europe

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As part of an international effort to address environmental problems resulting from agricultural overproduction, hundreds of thousands of acres of surplus farmland throughout Europe will be taken out of production in coming years.

Topic

Restoring plant and microbial diversity to overfarmed European lands

Framework

Problem / Solution

Main Point

Restoring plant diversity to overused farmland is challenging due to depleted soils and problematic weeds, but recent research suggests that success depends on restoring both a diverse mix of native plant seeds and beneficial soil microorganisms ("diversity underground fosters diversity aboveground"—final sentences of the last paragraph).

P1: The Challenge of Restoring Overfarmed Land

Europe is trying to take lots of farmland out of production for environmental reasons, but it’s hard to bring back natural plant life because years of farming deplete soil nutrients and create weed problems. You could replace the topsoil, but that’s just not possible at the scale needed. Typically, people assume nature will (very slowly) fix things on its own, but researchers are now testing ways to speed things along.

P2: Experimental Approaches to Plant Diversity

Researchers in the Netherlands set up a big experiment: they cleared a cornfield and divided it up, testing different combinations of native plant seeds. Where they planted a diverse mix of seeds, troublesome thistles disappeared, but if they did nothing, thistles took over. So, planting a broader range of native species helps keep out bad weeds.

P3: The Role of Microorganisms in Restoration

They also tested whether adding soil (full of microbes) from healthier land would help. Plots with the added soil did better than plain ones, but still not as well as untouched, long-restored land. The problem? Old farmland has too many disease organisms but not enough beneficial ones like mycorrhizal fungi, which protect the plants. In short, you need a good underground ecosystem to support a healthy one above. The researchers now think the best bet is to actively add both native seeds and beneficial microbes to the soil to speed up restoring these lands.

27.

Which one of the following is most analogous to the process, described in the last paragraph, by which the spread of thistles can be curtailed?

  1. A newspaper works to prevent

    Bad Match: switch allegiance

    "Preventing Party A from winning a majority of seats" could match up with "preventing thistles from overrunning the soil". "The newspaper working to prevent that" could be the farmer / the beneficial microorganisms? What would be the "party supporters to switch their allegiance to a rival party"? Is there something that was previously helping thistles that will now be helping the corn to grow?

    15% picked this

  2. Correct

    A newspaper works to prevent

    Why this is right

    "Preventing Party A from winning a majority of seats" can match up with "preventing thistles from overrunning the soil". "The newspaper working to prevent that" could be the farmer. "Publishing editorials" can be adding the local old-school dirt that has microorganisms. "Rival party" is native plants. "Attacks by certain broadcast journalists" is the aggressive disease organisms. LSAC, do you hear how crazy this ^ sounds? This is what you're asking us to do?!! Basically, we want native plants to beat out thistle, and we know that native plants are sometimes attacked by aggressive disease organisms. So we're throwing some beneficial editorials (the beneficial microorganisms) into the mix of this election in the hopes that the effects of these editorials will cancel out the damage of the attacks from the broadcast journalists.

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

    52% picked this

  3. A newspaper works to prevent

    Weaker Match: discourage supporters

    "Preventing Party A from winning a majority of seats" could match up with "preventing thistles from overrunning the soil". "The newspaper working to prevent that" could be the farmer. "the editorials" can be the old-school dirt with the microorganisms. But, there's no great match for the idea that the microorganisms are "intended to discourage supporters" of thistle from showing up to vote. The beneficial microorganisms are intended to fight the aggressive disease organisms, but it's weird to call the aggressive disease organisms "supporters of thistle". It sounds like the beneficial microorganisms protect the plant roots of the corn from being attacked by the aggressive disease organisms. So "discouraging attackers of corn" is more the function of the "editorials" than is "discouraging supporters of thistle".

    14% picked this

  4. A newspaper works to prevent

    Weaker Match: support for Party A

    Just like (C), we get into worse-match territory with the idea of something supporting thistle, when what we're really trying to combat (the aggressive disease organisms) is something that attacks the corn. Otherwise, this answer seems better than (C), because "going after public figures who support thistles" sounds a little more like the third-party that would match up with the aggressive disease organisms, whereas (C) was using "supporters of A" which sounds more directly related to thistle itself.

    11% picked this

  5. A newspaper works to prevent

    Bad Match: factions within party

    This answer is saying that the corn farmer is trying to prevent thistle from dominating the soil by adding microorganisms intended to create an internal battle within the thistles. But the microorganisms aren't related to the thistle directly. They're just protecting the corn from having its roots attacked by aggressive disease organisms.

    8% picked this

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