Self-study
P1
Forests are among the world's most valuable resources, both in a narrowly economic sense and in a broader, ecological sense. ███████ ████████ ████ █████ ██████████ ████████ ████ ██████████ ████ █ ███████ ██ ███ ███████ █████ ████████ ███████████ ███████ ███████ ███████████ ██████ █████████ ███ ███████ ████ ███████ ████ █████ ██████ ████ █████ ███
Context / Intro ·
Forests are important
Forests are both economically and ecologically important.
Main Point ·
Policy decisions about conservation of forests require understanding arguments for and against
Author will scrutinize two specific claims: 1. that forests create oxygen; and 2. that forests preserve biodiversity
P2
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Criticize Claim 1 ·
Forests are "the lungs of the earth"
This is a myth. Forests neither produce nor consume oxygen in net.
P3
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Claim 2 ·
Preservation of biodiversity requires stricter conservation of forests
Economic argument for preserving biodiversity: could lead to discovery of new medicines. Moral argument for preserving biodiversity: it's an intrinsic good.
P4
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Critique of Claim 2 ·
Is stricter conservation of forests really required?
First, deforestation isn't occurring as much as many believe. Second, deforested land that turn into wood plantations actually relieve economic pressure on forests.
Passage Style
Critique or debate
4.
The stated relationship between the ██████████ ██ ██████ ███████ ██████████████ ███ ███ ███████████ ██ ██████ ██ ███ ███████ ██ ████ █████████████
a
Pay increases in █ ███████ ███████ ████ ██ █████████ ██████████ ██████ ███ ████ ████████ ██ █████████ ██████ ███████ █████████ ██ █████ ██ ███ █ █████████████ ████████ ██ █████████████
(A) says that the pay increase is partially eroded through inflation, but in the example with the trees, the amount of oxygen produced is equal to the amount of oxygen consumed. For (A) to be the answer, we would need the pay increase to be completely offset by inflation. Additionally, (A) gives a conditional statement (if there is no corresponding increase in productivity) but the example with the trees doesn’t have this kind of condition.
b
Endangered species of ██████ ███ ███████████ ████████ ██ █████ ██ ███████ █████ ████████████ █████ ██ ████ ██ ██ ███████ █████ ██████████ ██ ███████ ██████████
We are looking for an example of some increase that is offset by a decrease, leading to a net neutral impact. (B) just talks about things that can help endangered plants, so this isn’t the analogy we are looking for.
c
Energy is expended ██ ███████████ ███ ██████████ ████ ██████ ███ ███ ████ ██████ ██ ███ █████ ████ ████ ████ ███ ███ ██████ █████████
(C) says that the cash return more than pays for the energy needed in farming, so the result is a net positive. However, in the example with the trees, the amount of oxygen produced is equal to the amount of oxygen consumed. For (C) to be the answer, we would need the cash return to be completely offset by energy expenses.
d
An increase in ███ █████ ██ ███ ██████ ██ █ ███████ ██ █ █████ ██████████ ██████ ███ ████ ██ ████████ ██ ███ █████ ██████ ██ █████ █████████ ██ ████ ███████
We are looking for an example of some increase that is offset by a decrease, leading to a net neutral impact. (D) shows how an improvement in one thing can trigger an improvement in something else, which isn’t what we need.
e
Water evaporates from ███ ██████ ██████ ███ ████████ ███ ████ █████ ██████████ █████████ ██ ███ ██████████ ███ █████ ██ ███ ██████ ██ ████ ██ ████ ██ ███ ████ ██████ ██ ██████████
In this example, the water evaporates from the ground then returns to the ground, leading to a net neutral impact. This is an example of an increase that is offset by a decrease, leading to a net neutral impact, so (E) is exactly what we are looking for.