PrepTest 135, Section 3, Question 22
As part of an international effort to address(467 more words not shown)
The passage offers which one(39 more words not shown)
- ALand that has(9 more words not shown)
- BLand that has(13 more words not shown)
- CLand that has(11 more words not shown)
- DThe soil that(19 more words not shown)
- EThe soil that(18 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
Keep the three kinds of land straight. The seeded plots without added soil do worst. Adding soil from the nearby land improves growth. But plants on that nearby land, which has been out of production for 20 years, still do better than plants on the enriched plots.
What we’re looking for
The question asks why that last difference remains. Adding some beneficial soil hasn't erased the farmed field's existing problem: aggressive disease organisms are still present, and the natural balance hasn't been fully restored.
Working the answers
- A
Nutrient depletion is mentioned in the opening. But the researchers' explanation of this particular comparison concerns harmful and beneficial organisms. A real background problem isn't automatically the stated reason for these results.
- BCorrect
The researchers say fields farmed for many years are “overrun with aggressive disease organisms.” Those organisms help explain why plants in the experimental field still lag behind plants on the more recovered land, even after beneficial organisms have been introduced.
- C
Overfertilization is another background problem. It isn't the explanation assigned to this difference in the final paragraph.
- D
This blames the soil brought in from the nearby land. But that soil was introduced precisely to supply beneficial organisms. The deficiency being discussed concerns the farmed field, not a lack of fungi in the added soil.
- E
We aren't told the imported soil brought harmful organisms that attack roots. It brought beneficial organisms and improved growth. The disease problem belongs to the farmed land.
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