Self-study
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
██ █████ ███ ████ ███ ██ ████████ ████████ ████████ ███ █████ █████ █████ ███ █████ ████ ████ ██ ███████ ██ █████████ ██ ████ █████ ██████ ████ ███████ ██ █ ████ ██ █████ ████ ██ ██████ █████ ████████████ ███
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
3.
Which one of the following █████████ █████ ████ █████████ ████████ ███ ████ █████████ ██ ███ ████████
a
However, if homes ████ ███ █████ ██ ████ █████ █████████ ██ ████████ ███ ██████ ██ █████████ ████████ █████ ██ ███████ ██████████████
Developed property and damage to such property is never discussed in the passage. So we have no reason to think it would fit at the end.
b
Unfortunately, until foresters █████████ ███ ███████ █████ ██ ██████ ████ ██ ████████ █████ █████████ ███ ██████ ██ ████ ████ ██████████ ██ ███ ████████ ██████████
The author never discusses “resistance within the forestry community.” So we have no reason to think it would fit at the end. If you like this answer, you’re probably assuming that the forestry community would be opposed to a new approach. But there’s no evidence for that. In fact, we’re told that foresters are “increasingly aware that too much firefighting can be worse than none at all.” So there’s evidence foresters would be open to a new approach.
c
But even with █████ █████████ █████ ███████ ████ █████ ██ ███████ █████ ████████ ████████ ██████ ███████████ █████ ████ ██████ █ ██████ ██ ███ ████ █████
This is the best answer available. We know that the current policy puts us at risk of large fires, because we’re not letting small fires burn to kill off fuel. The author’s recommended approach isn’t something that can happen immediately. It takes time to burn off the smaller trees through controlled fires. So until we do that, there’s still a threat of large fires.
d
Yet, because smaller █████ ████ ██████ █████ ████ ██████ ███ ██████ ██████████ ███ ██████████ ████████ ██ ███ ███ █████ ████ ██ ███████ █████████ ███████ █████ ████████ ███████
The author never suggests she cares about the economic impact of her approach on timber companies. So it doesn’t make sense for the author to say (D) at the end.
e
But given the █████ █████████ █████████ ██████ ██ ███████ █ ██████████ ████ ██████████ ███████ ███ ███████ ██ ████ ████████ █████ ███████████ ███ █████ ██████
The author never suggests the chances of implementing her recommendations is small. She doesn’t say anything suggesting that the recommendations will be easy/difficult to implement or are likely/unlikely to be implemented.