PrepTest 126, Section 1, Question 8
Economist: Historically, sunflower seed was one of the(55 more words not shown)
The economist's statements, if true,(8 more words not shown)
- AKalotopia's farming industry(8 more words not shown)
- BStabilizing Kalotopia's farming(9 more words not shown)
- CKalotopia's farming industry(22 more words not shown)
- DA crop that(22 more words not shown)
- ESunflower seed is(22 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
The economist makes sunflowers sound promising: they used to be a major crop here, growing them again would help farmers, and their oil could supply useful products.
I'd still have questions before treating that as a complete plan. Has the climate changed? Has much of the population moved into cities and other kinds of work? A crop's past success wouldn't, by itself, tell us that a country remains equipped to produce it.
What we’re looking for
But the question asks what follows if the economist's statements are true. That means accepting the stated benefit to the farming industry, rather than using those questions to reject it. The point seems to be that bringing sunflowers back would be good for Kalotopia. Let's look for an answer that captures those benefits without adding claims the economist never made.
Working the answers
- A
Sunflowers are one way to provide relief. That doesn't mean the industry must deteriorate without them. Perhaps growing mustard, or making some other change, could also help. A turns a possible source of improvement into something the industry cannot do without.
- B
“Little cost” doesn't establish “without damaging the environment.” A small environmental cost could still be a cost. B also makes a general claim about stabilizing the industry, while the passage describes this particular crop's benefits. We don't have that broader guarantee of no environmental damage.
- C
We only know about sunflowers. Perhaps another formerly important crop, such as cotton or tobacco, was no longer useful to the industry and abandoning it helped. Those are possibilities, not facts about Kalotopia. They show why a case for restarting one crop doesn't establish that the country should have kept growing every historically important crop.
- DCorrect
The crop is sunflower seed. It was once a major production crop, and the economist says growing it again would relieve problems in farming and supply useful industrial and consumer products. Those points support benefits to farmers and the broader economy. D keeps the conclusion tied to the crop we actually discussed.
- E
Useful doesn't mean better than most alternatives. We haven't compared sunflowers with the other crops Kalotopia could grow, either economically or environmentally. There could be several excellent options. The passage supports benefits from sunflowers, not this ranking.
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