Self-paced
P1
In the last half-century, firefighters in North America have developed a powerful system for fighting wildfires using modern technology. ███ ██ ███ ████ █████ █████████ ███ ██████████ ███ ████████████ █████ ████ ███ ████ ████████████ ███ ██ █████ ████ ████ ██ ████ ████ ███ ██████████ ████ ██████ ██████████ ████ ███████ ██ ████ █ ███ ████ ████ ███ █████████ ██ ████████ █████ ███ ███████ ███ ███ ████████ ██████ ████ █████ ██ ██████ ███
problem ·
Too much firefighting can be bad for forests
Forest ecosystems depend on wildfires
Example ·
of forest dependence on wildfires
In ancient ponderosa forests, frequent small wildfires prevented large wildfires
P2
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Explain problem ·
Fighting small wildfires results in larger, more-damaging fires
Impacts of problem ·
on wildlife, mature trees, and topsoil
Emphasize problem ·
Ponderosa and other forests at risk of large fires
Proposed solution ·
Adapt land management policies
P3
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Details of solution ·
Selective harvesting and prescribed fires
Selective harvesting creates conditions for small fires, which are permitted/scheduled as prescribed fires
Implications of solution ·
Wildfires will be more manageable and less damaging
Passage Style
Problem-analysis
Single position
5.
The passage provides the most ███████ ███ █████████ ████ █████ ███ ██ ███ █████████ ██ ████ ██ ███████ █████████ ████████
a
Ponderosas that thrived ██ █████ ███████ ████████ ████████ ███████████ ████ ██████ ██████████ ██ ███████ ██████ ████████████ █████
The author doesn’t suggest genetic differences between ancient and modern ponderosas.
b
The population density ██ █████ ██ █████ ███████ ███ █████████ █████ ████ ██ ██ ██ ████ █████████ ███████ ██████
Supported, because ancient ponderosa forests are examples of forests where low-intensity fires cleared out brush and young trees. So the density of trees in these forests was likely lower than in modern forests, which have more brush and young trees, because current fire policy doesn’t involves clearing out the brush and young trees. This is the best answer available; no other answer has a textual hook that could offer support.
c
Weather patterns in █████ ███████ ████ █████████████ █████████ ████ ███████ ████████ ██ █████████ ███████ ██████
The author doesn’t comment on weather patterns of ancient ponderosa forests.
d
The diversity of █████ ███████ ███ ███████ ██ █████ ███████ ████ ██ ██ ██ █████████ ███████ ██████
The author doesn’t comment on the number of plant species in ancient ponderosa forests.
e
In addition to ████████ ███ ██████ █████ ████████ █████████████ █████ ██████ ██ ███████ ████████ ███████████ ██ █████ ████████
The author doesn’t comment on the potential for low-intensity fires to control wildlife. The only mention of wildlife is that they can be killed off by large, devastating fires and that they might escape low-intensity fires.