Reading comp PrepTest 124 · Section 4 · Question 22

Topic: Science

Paragraph 1

• Paragraph note
  • A generalization and an example
• Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
  • Generalization - Sometimes, best pest control is using a predator
  • Example - Cyclamen (Cyc) (pest)/Typhlodromus (Typh) (predator mite)
  • Usual cycle - Cyc infest, get out of control year 2, Typh move in and control them

Paragraph 2

• Paragraph note
  • Features of Typh that make them work
• Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
  • Hungry
  • Reproduction - method and rate (Similar to Cyc)
  • Seasonal and population densities
  • Reproduce only when there’s cyc
  • Similar - Other predators that can control prey

Paragraph 3

• Paragraph note
  • Study - Typh works
• Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
  • Study - Greenhouse experiments - Strawberries (one with both, one with just Cyc and insecticide)
  • Results - Just Cyc = out of control; Both = Cyc under control

Paragraph 4

• Paragraph note
  • Study backed up in real world
• Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
  • In study, insecticide more harm than good
  • Real-world studies show same thing
  • Average - Cyc population 25x with no predators

Main Point: In some cases, the most effective means of controlling an agricultural pest is by using its predator, as is exemplified by the Cyclamen/Typhlodromus relationship.

Lines 1-3 - A generalization is presented

Lines 4-6 - A specific example is noted

Lines 15-16 - List of factors owing to effectiveness introduced

Lines 33-37 - Features generalized to other predators

Lines 37-40 - Studies verify generalization

Lines 52-54 - Studies backed up in real world

Generalization/Example - This question is one of the best examples (pun intended) of the Generalization/Example Meta-Structures in the history of the exam. It starts out by making a very general - yet strong - statement about a particularly effective means of controlling a pest population. It then goes into “[a] case in point” that it spends the rest of the passage exploring. When this Meta-Structure is present, the main point is the generalization, and the correct answer to any main point question will generally reference the example, as well - though it sometimes doesn’t.

List - Paragraph 2 is a list of “several factors” that explain why Typh is such an effective predator and can keep Cyc in check. That paragraph even generalizes from Typh to other predators in the last sentence (Lines 33-37), which reinforces the Generalization/Example Meta-Structure above.

Similarities - Paragraph 2 has a lot of comparisons in its list of factors. There are similarities between Typh and Cyc that makes Typh such an effective predator, and similarities between Typh and other predators that show a pattern to what makes for an effective predator.

Paragraph 2 is difficult. There are a lot of details in there, and so we should be sure to head back there for any question that talks about similarities, any of the individual points of comparison/factors, or anything that sounds sciency, as that paragraph is the scienciest paragraph in the passage (yes, we just made up those words).

Paragraph 4 is interesting - it takes the studies from Paragraph 3 and shows that they pan out in the real world. One inherent flaw in any study is that it doesn’t necessarily represent the real world, but this passage gets around that to an extent by showing that the results can be found outside of a lab setting.