Reading comp PrepTest 135 · Section 3 · Question 21

Topic: Science

Paragraph 1

• Paragraph note
  • Environmental problems from overproduction in Europe (depleted nutrients, fertilization encourages problem weeds) and some solutions (replace topsoil, end production, accelerated restoration)
• Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
  • Cause-and-effect relationships, according to the author:
    • Overproduction causes the depletion of nutrients, among other environmental problems (first and second sentences)
    • Overfertilization causes the growth of problem weeds, which make it difficult for native plants to establish themselves (third sentence)
  • Author's view:
    • The quickest solution is removing and replacing the topsoil, but that is impractical on a large scale (fourth sentence)
    • Most people believe that doing nothing will allow the soil to restore itself, but the Netherlands study is trying to accelerate this natural rehab (last sentence)
  • Author's attitude: "environmental problems" (first sentence); "will be difficult" (second sentence); "problem weeds" (third sentence); "impractical" (fourth sentence); "generally believed" (last sentence)

Paragraph 2

• Paragraph note
  • Netherlands study described (plots planted with native grasses/herbs have fewer thistles)
• Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
  • Comparison, according to the study:
    • One the control plots planted with nothing or corn, thistles became dominant; on the plots planted with native grasses/herbs, thistles were forced out (first through last sentence)

Paragraph 3

• Paragraph note
  • Conclusion from additional stage of the Netherlands study (spreading beneficial microorganisms and native herbs/grasses restores soil more quickly)
• Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
  • Comparison, according to the study:
    • Researchers spread untouched soil (which has beneficial microorganisms) into the plots and found the plots with native herbs/grasses and the soil fared better than plots with just native herbs/grasses, but not as well as unfarmed soil (first and second sentences)
  • Researchers' view:
    • Farmed soil has harmful organisms and no good ones, so we can accelerate soil's restoration by returning beneficial microorganisms (which fight the harmful organisms) and native herbs/grasses (third through last sentences)
  • Examples of beneficial organisms, according to the author:
    • Nematodes, mycorrhiza (first and third sentences)
  • Author's attitude: "beneficial microorganisms" (first sentence); "preliminary results" (fourth sentence); "hinges on" (fourth sentence)

Main Point: Studies by researchers in the Netherlands have shown that the natural restoration of ecological health can be accelerated by sowing beneficial microorganisms into the soil while planting a wide variety of native seeds.

Problem/Solution: This passage is an interesting variation on the Problem/Solution Meta-Structure. It introduces a problem — the environmental problems associated with agricultural overproduction — and it explores a spectrum of solutions. These vary from the non-workable (removing and replacing all of the topsoil) to the slow (do nothing and let nature run its course) to the speculative one promoted by the study from the Netherlands.

In general, the main point of a Problem/Solution passage will be the author's preferred solution or, absent that, their opinion on the main solution. In this case, the author doesn't really express their preference for or even their opinion on any of the solutions. Therefore, the main point will simply summarize the solution that the passage dedicates the most space to — the speculative solution from the Netherlands studies. We'll need to make sure the main point mentions that any conclusions drawn from the study are held by those researchers, not the author. Those conclusions are summarized in the last sentence of the passage, which we used to construct our anticipated main point.

Each paragraph involves a lot of detail and will require a lot of checking in the questions. In Paragraph 1, that's the list of contributing factors to the problem and the different solutions noted. In Paragraph 2, there are the differences between the four types of plots and their results. In Paragraph 3, that's micro...mycro...mycorrhiza? It's the difficult details around the harmful microorganisms, especially since the paragraph also talks about beneficial microorganisms. Let's be sure to rely heavily on the passage to help us on the detail-oriented questions.