PrepTest 114, Section 3, Question 5
The myth persists that in 1492 the Western(433 more words not shown)
With which one of the(9 more words not shown)
- AThe long-term effects(13 more words not shown)
- BHerbaceous undergrowth prevents(6 more words not shown)
- CEuropean settlers had(13 more words not shown)
- DCertain species of(13 more words not shown)
- ENicaraguan pine forests(12 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
The writer's case is that controlled burning changed forests, including the kinds of plants that grew there. This is a broad agree question, so I wouldn't predict one exact answer. I'll check whether each claim follows from those described effects.
Working the answers
- A
The writer says human-set fires had “markedly different effects” from natural fires. Some vegetation did result from natural fires, but regular burning extended and maintained it. That isn't support for saying natural fires could just as easily produce the long-term effects.
- B
Undergrowth is described as a result of burning, not a cause of failed maturity. In fact, the text associates it with mature forestland.
- C
Establishing Native influence before Europeans arrived doesn't show that Europeans later had little influence. Their impact isn't measured here.
- DCorrect
Regular burning “extended and maintained” vegetation such as the more uniform tree stands. It also favored fire-tolerant plants. If the practice helped those plants spread or remain, some might have been less widespread without it. We don't need to claim they could never grow without human burning.
- E
The Nicaraguan example is connected to clearing and regular burning, in a region where natural fires are rare. The writer doesn't establish that natural fires could alternatively have produced those particular forests. Imagining that possibility isn't evidence that the writer would endorse it.
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