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PT33 S2 question #19 RC

Posted: Fri Apr 01, 2011 11:19 am
by jim-green
I'm having trouble with PT33 S2 question #19. This question is pretty tricky. A is correct because lines 17-18 say so. However, D also appears correct because of line 21. Any thoughts on why answer D is incorrect? Thanks for your help.

Re: PT33 S2 question #19 RC

Posted: Fri Apr 01, 2011 12:35 pm
by privatemf
19. (A) Inference
The major element of ¶ 1’s rosy hypothesis that the
author believes to be correct, as confirmed by lines
16–18, is that through increased CO2 plants’ rate of
photosynthesis could be “enhanced,” or increased,
and thus enhance plant growth “generally.” That’s what
(A) asserts (and what wrong choice (D) contradicts, as
a matter of fact). But (B) is wrong because based on ¶
2 it looks as if “important crops” like corn and
sugarcane will be negatively impacted, while weeds will
be enhanced. (C) gets the author’s main idea 180
degrees wrong: That’s the position he believes to be
incorrect. (E), finally, refers to an element of ¶ 1 (lines
11–13) that the author seems to agree with, not dispute.

According to Kaplan.

Re: PT33 S2 question #19 RC

Posted: Fri Apr 01, 2011 1:27 pm
by jim-green
privatemf, thanks! that helps very much.

Re: PT33 S2 question #19 RC

Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2011 10:19 am
by soj
I know this is kind of late, but here's my explanation, having just done this PT 20 minutes ago:

(D) is wrong because the author WOULD be correct in saying enhanced plant growth could lead to abundances of certain species of plants (line 19-20). While line 21 says it would reduce agricultural yields, it doesn't refer to plants that are unrelated (or even detrimental) to agricultural yields, such as weeds. The passage does support that enhanced plant growth would lead to enhanced growth in weeds and photosynthetic-inefficient plants, so (D) is incorrect.

Re: PT33 S2 question #19 RC

Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2011 10:47 am
by jim-green
soj wrote:The passage does support that enhanced plant growth would lead to enhanced growth in weeds and photosynthetic-inefficient plants, so (D) is incorrect.
Thanks, soj.