Three Corpse Flowers

The author included paragraph 1 most likely to

• explain what the corpse flower looked like

• demonstrate that the flower is a new species

• show why the flower is newsworthy

• suggest that the U.S. Botanical Garden is the only place a corpse flower can bloom

The author wrote this article most likely to

• demonstrate how to grow a corpse flower

• explain the natural habitat of a corpse flower

• show how rare it is for a corpse flower to bloom

• report about an interesting event involving the corpse flower

How does the author support the claim that the corpse flower is interesting because of it's size?

• By contrasting its size to the size of other plants

• by including details of how much each flower grew

• by stating that it is the largest unbranched inflorescence plant

• by providing an explanation of what pollinators the plant attracts

"The odor is often compared to the stench of rotting flesh" - The author includes this sentence most likely to emphasize-

• how terrible the plant smells

• how the plant got its name

• why it attracts beetles and flies

• why the flowers bloom irregularly

The author organizes paragraph 3 by-

• providing details about what makes the corpse plant unique

• describing how the bloom of a corpse plant looks

• contrasting the corpse plant to similar plants

• explaining the life cycle of a corpse plant

The author included the information in paragraphs 4 and 5 most likely to-

• describe the history and nature of the corpse flower

• show why the bloom of the corpse flower is unpredictable

• explain the conditions under which a corpse flower can grow

• demonstrate the challenge of growing the corpse flower in the U.S.

The author states that the corpse plant cannot grow except under specific conditions in order to-

• explain why the plant grows so well in the botanic gardens

• prove that the plant cannot grow outside of the tropics

• demonstrate why it does not grow naturally in the U.S.

• show how the plant thrives when the conditions in its environment are right