"The Science of Growing Corn"

What is the author’s purpose in “The Case for Keeping Corn Number 1”?

• To entertain readers with a story about corn production

• To persuade readers that new technology is enhancing corn production.

• To inform readers about the process of producing corn

• To prove that corn is the best product in America

Which detail from the passage BEST supports the the purpose you chose in Question #1? (To persuade readers that new technology is enhancing corn production.)

• “Corn is highly versatile.”

• “Some people argue that soil is depleted by the two-crop corn-soybean rotation.”

• “We must move forward with technology, not back in time!”

• “Today, corn is the most widely grown crop in America.”

Which word or phrase helps the reader understand the meaning of the word “thrives” as it is used in paragraph 2?

• “In the Midwest region”

• “Continental United States”

• “climates”

• “Grows successfully”

What is the author’s purpose in “Did Farmers of the Past Know More Than We Do?”?

• To entertain readers with a story about crop rotation

• To persuade readers that farmers need to go back to old-fashioned methods of farming

• To compare farmers in the United States to farmers in other countries

• To prove that corn is the best product in America

Which BEST describes why the author include the graph on page 21?

• To show the reader how many corn bushels per year

• To enhance her opinion that technology is helping the corn industry

• To help the reader understand how much corn is produced each year

What is the conjunction used in the sentence below?

"They can be packaged into frozen and canned foods."

• be

• and

• into

• can

According to the author of "Did Farmers of the Past Know More Than We Do", why is the agricultural system unsustainable?

• Chemicals are being used on plants

• The chemicals used on plants depend on fossil energy

• What farmers return to the soil must now be purchased

• A modern rotation includes only corn, soybeans, fertilizer and pesticides.

What does the word obsolete mean as it is use in paragraph 14?

• new and special

• no longer useful

• out of the ordinary

• strange

Which phrase best helps the reader understand the meaning of the word "diversify" in paragraph 4?

• availability of food crops

• consolidating crops

• different crops for different markets

• more efficient

What is the best piece of evidence in paragraph 15 that supports the author's opinion that we need to use old ways of farming?

• This study is a reminder of something essential.

• It is a complex organism, and it always responds productively to diversity.

• The way we farm now undervalues and undermines good soil.

• Our idea of agricultural productivity and efficiency must include the ecological benefits of healthy soil.