9. Look at the four squares [■ ] that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage.
These methods differ from traditional farming practices.
Where would the sentence best fit?
10. Directions: An introductory sentence for a brief summary of the passage is provided below. Complete the summary by selecting the THREE answer choices that express the most important ideas in the passage. Some sentences do not belong in the summary because the express ideas that are not presented in the passage or are minor ideas in the passage. This question is worth 2 points.
Agricultural output all ever the world is being reduced due to soil erosion and an increased use of cropland for nonfarming purposed.
Drag your choices to the spaces where they belong. To review the passage, click on View Text.
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- A. Terracing, probably one of the oldest methods for controlling soil erosion, led to the creation of the more sophisticated and more efficient conservation practices used in contemporary farming.
- B. The United States has successfully instituted programs that encourage conservation tillage and the retirement of highly erodible land.
- C. City governments in the United States and Japan developed conservation programs that encourage farmers near big cities to cultivate crops that minimize soil erosion.
- D. After the 1930s Dust Bowl, the United States made significant changes to its agricultural practices, including the planting of tree shelterbelts and strip cropping.
- E. The conservation Reserve Program created in the United States in 1985 is gradually being adopted in other areas at the world such as Europe, Africa, and Asia.
- F. Saving cropland is sometimes difficult because it involves dealing with commercial forces, but some efforts like those in Tokyo and Oregon have been successful.
Paragraph 8
■ One of the time-tested methods of dealing with water erosion is terracing—creating hill-side ridges—to reduce runoff. ■ Another newer, highly effective tool in the soil conservation tool kit is conservation tillage, which includes both no tillage and minimum tillage. ■ In conventional farming, land is plowed, disked, or harrowed to prepare the seedbed, seed is drilled into the soil with a planter, and row crops are cultivated with a mechanical cultivator two or three times to control weeds. ■ With minimum tillage, farmers simply drill seeds directly into the soil. The only tillage is a one-time disturbance in a narrow band of soil where the seeds are inserted, leaving the remainder of the soil undisturbed, covered by crop residues and thus resistant to both water and wind erosion.
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