Reading comp PrepTest 123 · Section 4 · Question 24

Passage

 In tracing the changing face of the Irish landscape, scholars have traditionally relied primarily on evidence from historical documents. However, Remaining source text redacted.
Passage walkthrough
Passage Summary Topic: Social Science

Paragraph 1
  • Paragraph note
    • A problem with studying a certain history is noted
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Irish landscape - Historians rely on documents
    • Problem - Fragmentary, unreliable, and generally limited to military/commerce

Paragraph 2
  • Paragraph note
    • A partial solution
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Partial solution - Study fossilized pollen grains
    • Shows changes in vegetation (human and natural causes)
    • What plants grew when
    • Supplement/Correct documentary record (partial)

Paragraph 3
  • Paragraph note
    • Example of pollen analysis
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Pollen analysis - Cereal grains grown in LL/CD ~400 AD
    • Prior belief - Cereal grains not grown here (clay) until moldboard plough (7th c)
    • New belief - Cereal grains grown before that invention

Paragraph 4
  • Paragraph note
    • Example 2
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • LL linen
    • Prior belief - Flax (linen plant) was grown before 18th c
    • New belief - Flax pollen only since 18th c, so not grown before

Paragraph 5
  • Paragraph note
    • Limits and example
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Limits exist
    • Example - Can ID genus/family, but not species for some
    • Example of Example - Madder - can’t tell if cultivated or wild based on pollen

Main Point:
Studying fossilized pollen grains can supplement and correct the history of the Irish landscape that is derived from documents (even if it has limitations).

Key Lines?
Lines 3-5 - A problem is highlighted
Lines 10-12 - A partial solution is noted (partial because it’s an “additional means” aside from the incomplete one already noted)
Lines 18-20 - The Author shows how her solution works with the current process
Lines 48-50 - The Author places limitations on her solution

Meta-Structure?
Problem/Solution - This passage presents a problem in Paragraph 1 - the documentary evidence on a topic of interest (the Irish landscape’s history) is incomplete. The Author then presents a solution to that problem - fossilized pollen grains can be used to supplement and correct this record (Lines 10-12; Lines 19-20). However, there are limitations to this solution (Lines 48-50), so it’s a partial solution. When a passage is defined by a Problem/Solution Meta-Structure, the Author’s solution is the main point, reflected in what we wrote above.

Examples - The passage uses several examples to make its point. Paragraph 3 includes an example to show pollen records correcting a prior belief; Paragraph 4 had a separate example for the same purpose. And Paragraph 5 included an example that highlighted a limitation on the method. None of these examples are central, so they’re more likely to show up in questions about specifics rather than in big-picture questions.

Last Thoughts?
Those examples carried a lot of weight in the passage, so we should expect some questions focused on them. It’ll also be important to remember that the Author brought up limitations on her process for analyzing the history of the Irish landscape, so we should be sure that any answer we select that reflects her view is more balanced.

Question prompt

The passage indicates that Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: B

The notes below walk through why it fits the stem and how to eliminate the rest.

Question Type

Social Science

Strategy Overview

Review the examples that had pollen evidence overturning a prior belief, then find an answer matching up with one of them

Answer Anticipation

This question asks about views that were shown to be wrong based on the pollen evidence mentioned in the passage. Whenever new evidence calls an old view into question, we should make note of it, as it's almost certain to show up in a question.
Here, we had examples in Paragraphs 3 and 4 that each overturned a prior view.
Looking at Paragraph 3, we can see in Lines 26—29 that historians used to believe that the clay soil of Long Lough in County Down wasn't tilled until the moldboard plough was introduced in the 7th century.
Looking at Paragraph 4, we can see in Lines 42—44 that some historians used to believe that flax was being cultivated in County Down before the 18th century.
Let's find an answer reflecting either of these views.

Answer choices

  1. A
    The moldboard plough was Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited
    Incorrect. (Lines 26—29; Lines 31—32) This is a tempting answer, as it seems to reflect the viewpoint in Paragraph 3. However, that view is that cereal grains weren't harvested in Ireland until the introduction of the moldboard plough in the 7th century. The pollen record showed that cereal grains were harvested before then, not that the moldboard plough was. In fact, that paragraph ends by saying that the soil was tilled before the introduction of the plough.
  2. B
    In certain parts of Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B matches the stem
    Correct. (Lines 26—29) Paragraph 3 brought up the view of historians who said that cereal grains weren't cultivated in Long Lough of County Down until the introduction of the moldboard plough in the 7th century, so this is the correct answer.
  3. C
    In certain parts of Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited
    Incorrect. (Lines 26—29) Another answer about the view in Paragraph 3! But that view was about when the cultivation of cereal grains started, not whether they'd been continuously cultivated since that time.
  4. D
    Cereal grain cultivation requires Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited
    Incorrect. (Lines 31—32) Paragraph 3 ends by saying that, since cereal grain was cultivated before the moldboard plough, the soil "must indeed have" been tilled through some other mechanism, so this answer doesn't state an incorrect view.
  5. E
    Cereal grain cultivation began Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited
    Incorrect. (Lines 21—24) This is the corrected timeline, so it's not the view that the passage provides evidence against. This answer could easily trap you if you misread the question and thought it was about the supported view instead of the one it replaced.

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A 11%
  2. B Credited 45%
  3. C 17%
  4. D 10%
  5. E 18%

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