PrepTest 122, Section 3, Question 26
Every culture that has adopted the cultivation of(465 more words not shown)
The author of the passage(13 more words not shown)
- AMaize's impressive productivity(10 more words not shown)
- BMaize is an(15 more words not shown)
- CMaize's high yields(20 more words not shown)
- DUntil maize was(19 more words not shown)
- EMaize's C-4 photosynthesis(14 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
The author connects a photosynthetic mechanism with maize's productivity, after opening with its effects on human life. This question could draw on either part of that account. Let's check the claim each choice makes rather than assume that any positive statement about corn is supported.
Working the answers
- A
This reverses the explanatory direction. Productivity helps explain maize's cultural influence; the biochemical account explains its productivity. Understanding the cultural effects isn't presented as a prerequisite for understanding the mechanism.
- B
Oxygen is still released from the splitting of water. C-4 separates that process from the protected sugar-making process; it doesn't eliminate oxygen as a by-product.
- C
The account explains how rubisco is protected, not how much of it maize produces. An extra quantity-based explanation of the yields is unsupported.
- D
No comparison of Europeans' agricultural techniques before and after maize's introduction is given. Receiving a new crop doesn't by itself establish that they previously lacked the necessary farming techniques.
- ECorrect
Paragraph three says some plants “have evolved a photosynthetic mechanism” that prevents oxygen interference. Paragraph one explains how maize's productivity supported changes in Native American life and European population growth. Put those together: the adaptation makes maize productive, and people have benefited from that productivity.
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