Self-study
P1
Because most agricultural practices in North America produce row after row of only a few, genetically identical, varieties of crops, the continent's food system rests precariously on a rapidly eroding genetic base, increasingly susceptible to pests and disease. ███
Problem ·
Crop system precarious
Because crops are genetically homogeneous
Potential Solution ·
Conserve genetic info of heirloom varieties
Challenges ·
Farming methods unsuited to conservation
P2
█ ██████ █████ █████████ ███ ███████████ ██ ██████████ ███████ ██████ ██ █████ █████████████ ██ █████████ ████████ ██ ███████ ████████ ██ █████████ ██ ████ ██████████ █████ ███████████ ███
Details of Solution ·
Indigenous techniques
Technique and Advantage ·
Hybridization
Resistence to pest and disease
Technique and Advantage ·
Environmental fit
Less intensive irrigation
P3
████ ██ █████ ████████ █████████ ███ █████████ ██ █████████ ████ ██████ ██ ██████████ ███████ ███ ██████ █████ ███████ █████████████ ███████ ██████████ ███ ████████ ████████ █████████ ██████████ █████████ ██ ███ ████████ ███████████ ███ ███████████ ███████ ███ ████ ██████████ ███████ ███ █████████ ██ █████████████████ █████████ ██████ ██ ████ ██████████ ███
Details of Solution ·
Heirloom varieties persisted over time
Threat to Solution ·
fewer small farmers and breakdown of exchange networks
Call to Action ·
Must preserve indigenous knowledge
Passage Style
Problem-analysis
Single position
1.
Which one of the following ████ ██████████ ██████ ███ ████ █████ ██ ███ ████████
a
Heirloom crops need ██ ██ █████████ ███ ████ ██ ████████ █████████ ███████ █████████ ███ ██ ███████ █████ ████████ ████████ ██ █████
This doesn’t capture the author’s advocacy for a focus on indigenous techniques as a way of protecting heirloom crops. In addition, the author doesn’t advocate for the preservation of heirloom crops for the purpose of protecting North American cultures.
b
Indigenous farmers originated ███ ████████ ██ ████████ ██████ █████ ██ ████████ ███████ ███ █████ ███████ ████ ██████████ ██ ████ ███████████ █████ ██████ █████████ ██ ████ ████████ ███████ ██████ ██ ████████████ ███████
This doesn’t capture the author’s advocacy for more attention and research directed toward indigenous techniques for preserving heirloom crops. In addition, we don’t know that indigenous farmers created hybrid crops “to maximize yields.” The purpose was
c
The problem of ██ ███████ ████ ███████ ████ ██ █████ ███████ ██████ ██ ███ ████ ███ ████ ███████████ ██ ████████ ███ ███████ █████████ ████ ██ ██████████ ███████ ███ ████ █████████ ███ ██████████ █ ████ ███████ ██ ███████████ ██████
This best captures the author’s advocacy for a
d
Erosion of the ████ ███████ ████ ██ █████ ███████ ██ ███ ██████ ██ ███ ████ ██ ██████████ █████████ █████████ ███ ███████████ ██ █ ████ ███████ ██ ████████ ██████
Not supported. The author never suggests that indigenous knowledge caused the erosion of North America’s crop genetic base. Since (D) is not supported, it can’t be the main point.
e
The wide variety ██ ████████ ████ ████████ ██████████ ██ ██████████ ███████ ██ █ ██████ ██████ ██ ███████ ██ ███████ ███ ████ ██████ ██ ███████ ███████ ██ █████ ████████
Not supported. The author never suggests that heirloom crop genetics maintained by indigenous farmers results from an attempt to secure greater crop yields. In fact, the author indicates that maximizing crop yields is