Reading comp PrepTest 153 · Section 4 · Question 3

Passage

Questions 1-7  .       Forests are among the world's most valuable  . resources, both in a narrowly economic sense and in Remaining source text redacted.
Passage walkthrough
Passage SummaryTopic: Science

Paragraph 1
  • Paragraph note
    • Background on forests, and an outline of the rest of the argument
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Forests - ecologically and economically "most" valuable
    • To make policy decisions on forest preservation, need to know pros/cons, especially on claims of :
      • Oxygen-renewing effects
      • Biodiversity preservation
Paragraph 2
  • Paragraph note
    • Analysis of first claim - oxygen-renewing effects
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Claim - The Amazon keeps CO2 down and oxygen up
    • Reality - Forests are oxygen-neutral
Paragraph 3
  • Paragraph note
    • Analysis of second claim - biodiversity preservation
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Claim - Preserving biodiversity requires preserving forests
    • Scientists - Preserving it might lead to new basic materials/medicines
    • Alternatively, there's a moral imperative to do so
Paragraph 4
  • Paragraph note
    • Analysis of commercial plantations effects on biodiversity
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Deforestation isn't happening as much as thought
    • Plantations have critics, and they do have less biodiversity (concession), but they allow for more biodiversity elsewhere
    • They also make up only 3% of forests
Main Point:
Two claims about forest preservation need to be scrutinized before good forest-preservation policy decisions can be made.

Key Lines:
7-15 - Main point and outline of the rest of the passage/argument
24-26 - View on first topic raised in lines 7-15
30-33 - View on second topic raised in lines 7-15
35-39 - More on second topic raised in lines 7-15
41-44 - Point of last paragraph, continuing discussion of second topic from the third paragraph

Meta-Structure:
More research is needed. The Author here calls out what information needs to be scrutinized in order to allow for good policy decisions. However, she never speaks to what those policy decisions should be, or how the information should inform the policy decisions, so there's no resolution or suggestion as to the specifics there!

Last Thoughts:
It's important to note in this passage that the Author is much more middle-of-the-road overall than she is on individual elements. The main point here is that certain claims need to be scrutinized in order to make smart decisions about forest preservation policy. However, she never gives any hint as to what those policies should be. But she does offer opinions on the two claims that need to be scrutinized.

For the first claim about the oxygen-renewing capabilities of forests, she clearly doesn't agree that that's a benefit (lines 25-26). For the second claim about biodiversity, it's less clear, as she brings up two reasons to believe that biodiversity should be preserved, but it's never framed as her opinion—it's what "scientists believe" or what "one could agree with."

So the Author here does have some opinions, but overall, she's much more interested in exploring what needs to be explored rather than coming to a definitive conclusion on those topics.

Question prompt

The information in the Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: C

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

Question Type

Science

Answer choices

  1. A
    What percentage of the Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited
    Incorrect. (Lines 16-20; Line 55) We tagged the first half of paragraph 2 as being about the Amazon, and a quick scan shows that there's no discussion of percentage there. This question is likely trying to get you to think that the 3% noted at the end of the passage is about the Amazon, but it's about plantations, not the entirety of the Amazon region.
  2. B
    How many products are Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited
    Incorrect. (Paragraph 4; Lines 3-4) Plantations were discussed in the fourth paragraph, and a quick scan of that section shows that the only discussion about the products produced there mentions wood and wood pulp. However, since the passage doesn't note that these are the only 2 products made there, we can't answer this question. (Note that the passage does discuss that there are over 5,000 products made from forests in lines 3-4, but that's not the same as the number of products made on commercial plantations.)
  3. C
    By means of what Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C matches the stem
    Correct. Question Type:
    Must Be True

    Strategy Overview:
    Use our notations to find an answer to one of the questions

    Answer Anticipation/Relevant Lines:
    We're going to treat this as a Must be True question because we need to select an answer choice that presents a question we can find an answer with 100% certainty to. (Yes, discussing questions and answers here is a bit confusing and convoluted!)

    Since we don't want to head back to the passage for everything, we want to focus on answers that line up with our understanding of the passage, or that we know exactly where to look based on a notation we have. However, we're not going to anticipate any specific answer, since the correct one could reflect any point of the passage.

    Answer Explanation:
    (Paragraph 2; Line 22) The second paragraph is where oxygen generation was discussed, so we should look there to see if it mentions the process by which oxygen is produced. And it does—line 22 mentions that the process is called "photosynthesis," so we can answer this question based on information in the passage. This answer is therefore correct.

    Key Takeaway:
    Note that a lot of the work we did for this question involved narrowing down where we were looking to a single paragraph. That'll frequently be the case for questions such as this! That said, this would be a more time-consuming question than average, since we needed to head to the passage for each answer to see if we could find something that would make it correct.
  4. D
    What measures, if any, Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited
    Incorrect. (Paragraph 2) The second paragraph is where oxygen generation was discussed, and there's no mention of how to help forests produce more of it.
  5. E
    Do trees in tropical Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited
    Incorrect. (Paragraph 2; Lines 18-21) Another answer about oxygen generation! Though this time it discusses that topic through discussing CO2. In the second paragraph where this is discussed, it does note that the Brazilian Amazon tropical rainforest absorbs "so much" CO2. However, that's a determination about the rainforest overall, not a statement about how much each individual tree absorbs. Maybe the Amazon rainforest absorbs that much CO2 because there are more plants there than anywhere else, but each plant absorbs about the same amount of CO2 as trees in other areas. This answer features an unwarranted comparison.

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A 1%
  2. B 10%
  3. C Credited 80%
  4. D 4%
  5. E 6%

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