Self-study
P1
Experts anticipate that global atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) will have doubled by the end of the twenty-first century. ██ ██ █████ ████ ███ ███ ██████████ ██ ██████ ███████ ██ ████████ █████ ██████ ████ ██ █████ ██████████ ██ ████ ████ ███ ███████ ████████ ███
Intro topic ·
Global CO2 will probably increase
CO2 contributes to global warming.
Perspective from some research ·
Increased CO2 can lead to agricultural abundance, which can decrease rate of global warming
If there are more plants, those plants might draw more CO2 from the atmosphere, which might slow down global warming.
P2
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Critique 1 ·
More CO2 could lead to less agricultural yields
Although CO2 increases plant growth rate, it affects some plants more than others. Weeds might grow faster and outcompete certain good plants.
Consequence of Critique 1 ·
Different growth rates in plants can damage ecosystems
Weeds burn easily. More weeds could lead to more fires.
P3
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Critique 2 ·
More CO2 unlikely to slow down rate of global warming
Support for Critique 2 ·
Global warming leads to more decomposing peat, which will release more CO2 into atmosphere
Although more CO2 can lead to more plant growth, which can absorb more CO2, that's counteracted by increased release of CO2 from peat.
Passage Style
Critique or debate
15.
Which one of the following ████ ██████ ███ ████ █████ ██ ███ ████████
a
Elevated levels of ███ █████ ███████ ██████████████ ██████ ████ ██████████ █████ ██████ ███ ████████████ ███████
Anti-supported. The author actually argues that, although elevated CO2 levels would increase plant growth, they could
b
Recent studies have ███████ █████████████ ████████ █████ ███ ████████ ██ █████████ ██████ ██ ███ ██ ████████████ █████████████
This is true, but it’s not the main point of the passage. In P1, the author presents some research that suggests that elevated CO2 levels could lead to agricultural abundance. His main point is to challenge this view, and he does so with research that contradicts the research in P1.
c
The possible beneficial ███████ ██ █████████ ██████ ██ ███ ██ █████ ██████ ███ ██████ ███████ ████ ████ ███████████
The main point of the passage is to challenge the view presented in P1, which claims that increased CO2 levels could decrease global warming and result in agricultural abundance. In P2 and P3, the author presents recent research to argue that this view is inaccurate.
d
Increased levels of ███ █████ ███████ ███ ██████ █████ ██ ███████ ███████ ███ █████ ███████ ███ ██████ █████ ██ █████ ███████
e
Increased levels of ███ █████ ████████ █████ ███████ ███ ███ ████ ██ ██████ ███████ █████ ██████████ █████████
This may be true, but it’s not the main point of the passage. The author uses