Self-paced
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
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Details of Solution ·
Indigenous techniques
Technique and Advantage ·
Hybridization
Resistence to pest and disease
Technique and Advantage ·
Environmental fit
Less intensive irrigation
P3
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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
6.
According to the passage, which ███ ██ ███ █████████ ██ █ █████ ██ ███ █████████ █████ ██ ████████ ████ █████████ ██████████ ██ ██████████ ████████
a
North American farmers ███ ███████████ ███ ██████████ ████ █████████ ████ ███████ ██████ ███████
“Exclusively” is too strong. The author never states North American farmers only use commercial varieties.
b
The loss of ████ ███████ █████████ ███ ███ ██ █ ████ ██ ████████ █████████ ███ ██ ███████ ███ ████████
The author never states that disease and insects of killed off some heirloom varieties.
c
Agricultural researchers have ███ █████████ ██████████ ████████ ████ █████████ ██████ ███████ ██ ███ █████ ██████ █████ █████████ ████████
The author never states that researchers have anything to do with causing the shrinking stock of heirloom crops. Although the author does suggest that heirloom crops produce lower yields, the author never connects researchers’ consideration of that lower yield to causing fewer farmers to plant heirloom crops.
d
Heirloom crop varieties ████ ████ ███ █████████ ██ █████ ██ ███ ███████████ ████████████ ██████████ █████████ ██████
The author never states that difficulty of adaptation to large-scale production has caused shrinking stock of heirloom crops.
e
There are fewer ███████ ████████ ███ ███████ ██ ███████████ █████ ████████ ████ ██████████