Entry Exam Category: College Admission Exams
Course: Accuplacer
Exam: Accuplacer Reading Comprehension Practice Test
Practice Question
Extract
For those of us who wish to preserve the planet’s diversity of species, high-tech, chemically assisted agriculture is an environmentalist’s best friend. That’s right. Soaring growth in human population threatens to destroy most of the world’s remaining rainforests, wetlands, and mountain ecosystems, drastically reducing species diversity. Despite advances in chemical-free farming techniques, overreliance on these practices will result in the plowing down of forests to feed a global population that is estimated to reach 9.6 billion people by 2050. Environmentalists must face the fact that unless high-yield crop varieties, pesticides, and fertilizers are widely used in developing nations, the world’s food supply will be outstripped by spiraling demand. This will mean more forests falling under the plow. I couldn’t agree more that it’s crucial to step up agricultural productivity to feed a spiraling global population. My quarrel is with how to intensify agriculture, not whether it should be intensified. The paramount concern must be to increase crop yields in environmentally sensitive ways that protect human health and the soil and water that are agriculture’s very foundation. Heavy use of agrochemicals can bring high yields in the short run, but the cumulative damages may be considerable. Those of us whose research demonstrates that resource-conserving farming practices can be just as productive as the chemical-intensive kind contend that the goal should be efficient use of chemicals, not wide use.
The author of Passage 2 would most likely respond to the statement in the fifth sentence of Passage 1 ('Environmentalists must face the fact that unless high-yield crop varieties, pesticides, and fertilizers are widely used in developing nations, the world's food supply will be outstripped by spiraling demand') by arguing that:
Answer Choices
- A: industrialized nations pose a greater threat to the environment than do developing nations
- B: many fertilizers are organic substances that produce no ill effects in humans
- C: agricultural chemicals can be used on a small scale and still significantly improve crop yields
- D: the use of pesticides is unnecessary if high-yield crop varieties are adopted
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: The author of Passage 2 agrees that increasing food production is essential but advocates for efficient, limited, and environmentally sensitive use of agricultural chemicals. They argue that resource-conserving practices can be as effective as chemical-intensive farming. This aligns with choice C, which supports small-scale use of chemicals for significant results.