PrepTest 109, Section 2, Question 22
Experts anticipate that global atmospheric concentrations of carbon(445 more words not shown)
According to the passage, Billings'(8 more words not shown)
- AWhich kind of(13 more words not shown)
- BHow much will(15 more words not shown)
- CWill enhanced plant(14 more words not shown)
- DWould plant growth(18 more words not shown)
- EDoes peat decompose(20 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
What was Billings investigating? Warmer tundra had more plant growth, but decomposing peat also released more CO2. I'd initially describe the question as whether that ecosystem's extra vegetation could take in enough CO2 to offset the increased release.
What we’re looking for
Now connect the study to the reason it's here. The answer may state that larger question instead of naming peat or tundra.
Working the answers
- A
Billings doesn't compare how much different habitats warm. The simulation asks what happens in the tundra under warmer conditions.
- B
Four degrees is a condition of the estimate: if temperatures rise that much, how much CO2 will be released? Billings isn't predicting how much warming a doubling of CO2 will cause.
- CCorrect
Must greater plant growth slow warming as hoped? Billings shows why it needn't. The extra uptake “would not compensate” for the increased decomposition. That's the larger question our tundra prediction helps answer: more plants don't necessarily deliver the promised climate benefit.
- D
This asks whether different plants receive different growth boosts—the issue from paragraph 2. Billings examines uptake versus release, not the comparative responses of plant species. Doubling CO2 is mentioned in the opening, so those words aren't the problem.
- E
No comparison of peat decomposition across habitats is provided. The relevant comparison is between increased uptake and increased release in the warmed tundra.
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