Reading comp PrepTest 139 · Section 3 · Question 4

Passage

Questions 1-7  .       The prevailing trend in agriculture toward  . massive and highly mechanized production, with its  . heavy dependence Remaining source text redacted.
Passage walkthrough
Passage Summary

Topic: Social Science


Paragraph 1

  • Paragraph note
    • A problematic trend (massive/mechanized farms run on credit) and an alternative approach (Whatley's small farming guidelines)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Author's view on a problematic trend:
      • Mass/mechanized production funded by debt has led to small farm bankruptcies (first sentence)
    • Whatley's alternative approach:
      • Small farms can do something else to make money if they follow his guidelines (second and last sentences(
    • Author's attitude: "prevailing trend" (first sentence);

Paragraph 2

  • Paragraph note
    • Whatley's guidelines (crop variety, grow what people ask for)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • List of Whatley's guidelines:
      • Small farms need year-round cash (first sentence)
      • 10+ crops in case 1 fails (second sentence)
      • To minimize the need for loans, run "client membership clubs" and grow crops clients ask for (third and last sentences)

Paragraph 3

  • Paragraph note
    • Whatley's guidelines ("pick-your-own" farming, which eliminates harvesting and distribution costs)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • List of Whatley's guidelines (cont. from last paragraph):
      • Having "pick-your-own" farming eliminates harvesting costs, which amount to 50% of, and distribution costs (first and second sentences)
    • Example of a client membership club, according to Whatley:
      • A 25-acre farm needs 1,000 clients from nearby cities (third and last sentences)

Paragraph 4

  • Paragraph note
    • Whatley's guidelines (on a road within 40 miles of 50,000+ people, irrigation, insurance)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • List of Whatley's guidelines (cont. from last paragraph):
      • Farm on a hard-surfaced road within 40 miles of an area with 50,000+ people (first sentence)
      • Water for irrigation (third sentence)
      • $1 million liability insurance (fourth sentence)

Main Point: According to Whatley, an alternative to mass mechanized, debt-financed production for small farms involves direct interaction and sales to clients can allow a small farm to be profitable.

Key Lines?

Paragraph 1, Sentence 1 (P1, S1) - A problematic trend

P1, S2 - Whatley's alternative is introduced

P4, S5 - Whatley's conclusion

Meta-Structure?

Problem/Solution - This passage follows a Problem/Solution Meta-Structure.* The author brings up a problem in the first paragraph: a trend towards mass, mechanized farm production that's causing small farms to rely on debt and end up in bankruptcy. The author then outlines the solution proposed by Booker T. Whatley for the rest of the passage.

Normally, in a Problem/Solution passage, the author's preferred solution is the main point or, if that's missing, her opinion on a proposed solution is the main point. Here, the author doesn't propose a solution or disclose their feelings on Whatley's solution. So, the main point is that Whatley has proposed a solution, leading to what we wrote above.

*Or so we say, you know? Many Meta-Structures work for this passage. It could be an Old Approach/New Approach passage, with Whatley representing the new approach. It could be an Innovative Subject passage, given Whatley's "innovative" approach to small farming. It could even be a Reporting a Viewpoint passage since the author mostly just reports Whatley's guidelines without offering any commentary. Any of these Meta-Structures would help you understand the passage's main point and organization.

List: Arguably, the minor Meta-Structure is even more important than the major Meta-Structure in this passage. Paragraphs 2 through 4 are organized around a list of Whatley's guidelines. We recommend highlighting each item on that list (each guideline) since several questions will likely ask about those. Having these items highlighted will allow us to scan the passage and quickly locate the relevant details.

Last Thoughts?

With very little author's attitude and a relatively straightforward structure, we expect we'll mostly get Minor Point questions. If you don't find memorizing a few details too burdensome, we recommend trying to remember a few of Whatley's guidelines. That way, we can avoid a few fact-finding missions and advance through the questions efficiently. Of course, we shouldn't commit all the guidelines to memory. But let's synthesize them into three bullet points:

  • 10+ crops
  • Grow what people ask for and let them pick it
  • Easy-to-access location

Question prompt

The author of the Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: A

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

Strategy Overview

Review the main point and any major Meta-Structures, then find an answer that best captures the latter with the details from the former

Answer Anticipation

A question that asks what a passage is "primarily concerned with" tasks us with selecting the answer choice that describes why the author wrote the passage. The correct answer will describe an action: what the author hoped to do in the passage and how the author accomplished that.Now, in a broad sense, every author hopes to convince us that the main point is true. However, different authors employ different means to convince us of that main point. That's why the passage's Meta-Structure can be revealing: it helps us predetermine how this specific author was attempting to convey the main point.In this case, the central Meta-Structure was Problem/Solution, though we also said that the author presents someone else's solution, not their own or even one that they explicitly agree with. Instead, it's Whatley's solution. According to Whatley, an alternative to mass mechanized, debt-financed production for small farms that involves direct interaction and sales to clients can allow a small farm to be profitable.Putting this all together, we can say that the passage's primary concern is presenting someone's solution to a problem.

Answer choices

  1. A
    summarizing the main points Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A matches the stem

    (A) Does this say something like "presenting someone's solution to a problem"?

    Yes, it does. We can be quite confident this is the correct answer, and we'd be justified in selecting it and advancing to the next question.

    After all, this answer choice summarizes the passage's structure nicely. The author introduces Whatley's solution to the problem of small-farm bankruptcy caused by a current trend in agriculture, and the author spends the rest of the passage summarizing its main point.

    There are two tonal words here — "innovative" and "serious" — that might give some test-takers pause. (If these words made you think twice about selecting this answer choice, that's an excellent sign that you're keyed into reading for tone.) In this passage, both words are justified. The problem of bankruptcy justifies "serious," and that Whatley's approach "runs counter" to the current trend justifies "innovative" (P1, S2).

  2. B
    examining contemporary trends and Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited

    (B) Does this say something like "presenting someone's solution to a problem"?

    Nope. We can eliminate (B). Besides, only one trend is discussed in this passage (massive and mechanized farms run on credit). And the author doesn't evaluate its strengths — just the weakness that it leads to small-farm bankruptcies!

  3. C
    criticizing widely accepted practices Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited

    (C) Does this say something like "presenting someone's solution to a problem"?

    No. So we can eliminate (C). While the author believes that current agricultural practices lead to bankruptcies, which is bad, they don't spend the passage criticizing how farms currently work. Instead, the author presents an alternative that is at least arguably better. This answer is all problem, no solution!

  4. D
    demonstrating the advantages and Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited

    (D) Does this say something like "presenting someone's solution to a problem"?

    Not quite. "[D]emonstrating" would generally require concrete examples, while this passage speaks in guidelines and hypotheticals. And while the passage does introduce some requirements for Whatley's approach to work, that's not the same as talking about the disadvantages of it. If those requirements had been shown to be serious limitations (e.g., if the author said that most small farms are more than 40 miles from population centers), then this answer might be worth considering. But, as the passage is written, this answer choice doesn't describe why the author wrote the passage.

  5. E
    analyzing the impact of Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited

    (E) Does this say something like "presenting someone's solution to a problem"?

    No, so we can cross off (E). In fact, it's hard to fathom how Whatley's new idea would be framed as not "traditional," as this answer choice says. A trend towards mass, mechanizing production doesn't sound more traditional than small farmers selling directly to consumers. If anything, that sounds like a return to what was probably the case for early farmers! And the passage doesn't analyze the impact of the idea on an industry (let alone one that's called tradition-driven), just on the profitability for small farms that adopt it.

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A Credited 88%
  2. B 1%
  3. C 1%
  4. D 3%
  5. E 8%

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