PT114.S3.P1.Q2 > Analytics

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The myth persists that in 1492 the Western Hemisphere was an untamed wilderness and that it was European settlers who harnessed and transformed its ecosystems. ███ ███████████ █████ ████ ████████ ██ ███████████ ███ ████ ███████ ██ ███████ ███████ ████ ██████ ███ ███████ ██ ██████████ ██████ ███████████ ███ █████████ ████ ██ ███ ███████ ██ ████████████ ██████████ ███████ ██████████ ██ █████ ██ ████████ ███

Intro topic · Misconception that Europeans were the first to tame wilderness

In fact, Native Americans altered the forest before Europeans.

Some researchers' perspective · Burning of forests by Native Americans was minimal

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Critique / Author's Main Point · Lot of evidence that Native Americans routinely burned forests

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Support · Charcoal, characteristics of fires, "mosaic quality," open clearings

These are all evidence of Native American burning. "Mosaic quality" refers to forests with trees of different ages -- some young, some old.

Additional support · Fire-tolerant plants, homogeneous forests (all of same type of tree)

Example · Nicaraguan pine forests are example of homogeneous forest produced by burning

Tropical regions don't get many natural fires. Nicaragua would naturally have mixed forests. But there are homogeneous pine forests there.

Concession · Tropical areas in cooler, drier, higher areas do get natural homogeneous forests

Implies that Nicaragua is warmer, wetter, and lower. That's why homogeneous pine forests in Nicaragua are evidence of burning.

Additional Support · Nicaraguan pine forests today grow in areas that were burned

This probably also happened in the past. Pine forests were found only where there were Native American settlements. When the settlements left, the pine forests disappeared.

Passage Style

Critique or debate

It can be inferred that █ ██████ ██████ ██ █████████ ██ ███ ███████ █████ ████ ████ █████ ██████ ██ ███████

numerous types of ████████ █████

In P3, we see that when settlements were abandoned (and thus when routine burning would have stopped), the land returned to mixed hardwoods. This shows us that forests that are actively being burned likely wouldn’t have numerous types of hardwood trees.

86%

extensive herbaceous undergrowth

P2 tells us that herbaceous undergrowth is a result of burning forests, so burned forests would not be unlikely to display extensive herbaceous undergrowth.

a variety of █████████████ ██████

P2 tells us that fire-tolerant plants are a result of burning forests, so burned forests would not be unlikely to display a variety of fire-tolerant plants.

various stages of ██████████ ████████

P2 tells us that burning results in forests in different stages of ecological development, so various stages of ecological maturity would not be unlikely from burned forests.

grassy openings such ██ ███████ ██ ██████

P2 tells us that grassy openings are a result of burning forests, so burned forests would not be unlikely to display grassy openings.

PrepTest 114 - Section 3 - Passage 1 - Question 2

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