Reading English Language Arts

The following question has two parts. Answer Part A and then answer Part B.
Part A: In paragraph 4, which phrase best helps the reader understand what the word surplus means?

• World War II
  World War II
• what the government should do
• leftover bomb material
• the timber industry

Part B: According to the excerpt, what was the main result of the surplus described in paragraph 4?

• A. It helped farmers recognize the importance of using fertilizer. 
• B. It made farm soil less healthy for animals that lived off the land.
• C. It led to the creation of a large amount of a useful product for farmers.
• D. It caused conflict between different government agencies.

The following question has two parts. Answer Part A and then answer Part B. Part A: What is the author’s main argument in the excerpt?

• Agri-businesses, along with the government, have been effective at creating a system in which large amounts of corn are grown and turned into processed food and other products
• Chemical fertilizer has come into widespread use because of an Iowa farmer named Naylor, who demonstrated the benefits of using ammonium nitrate fertilizer.
• . Nitrogen is an element required by all living things, a fact that has sparked much debate about how farmers can best ensure that their crops get enough nitrogen.
• The use of chemical fertilizer has changed farming for the worse by creating an inefficient system that relies too heavily on fossil fuels. 

Part B: What is one thing the author could do to strengthen this argument?

• A. Describe how Naylor influenced his neighbors to use fossil fuels
• B. Explain how a shortage of fossil fuel would affect big farms
• C. List some of the products made from corn
• D. Give details about how nitrogen affects the cells of living things

The following item has two parts. Answer Part A and then answer Part B. Part A: In which paragraph does the author provide information that helps explain why farmers embraced the use of chemical fertilizer?

• Paragraph 6
• Paragraph 7
• Paragraph 8
• Paragraph 9

Part B: Highlight three sentences in the paragraph you chose in Part A that help explain why farmers embraced the use of chemical fertilizer

• Step 1: choose the correct paragraph from previous answer.
• Step 2: Find the reasons why farmers embraced the use of chemical fertilizer.
• Step 3: Highlight 3 sentences that explain why farmers embraced the fertilizer.
• Answers will be checked on your passage!

The following question has two parts. Answer Part A and then answer Part B. Part A: Which word best describes the tone of the excerpt?

• Concerned
• Outraged
• Uncertain
• lighthearted

Part B: Which sentence from the excerpt provides the best support for the answer to Part A?

• A. “It may seem that I’ve given corn too much credit.”
• B. “How could a plant take over our food chain and push out almost every other species?”
• C. “At the heart of the industrial food chain are huge businesses, agri-businesses.”
• D. “But the scientists in the Department of Agriculture had a better idea: Spread the ammonium nitrate on farmland as fertilizer.”

The following item has two parts. Answer Part A and then answer Part B. Part A: Which statement best describes the structure of paragraphs 6 – 8?

• A. The author uses chronological order to show that farming methods are constantly being invented to increase crop yields.
• B. The author identifies a problem farmers faced and then explains how the government came up with a solution to that problem.
• C. The author uses cause and effect to explain how chemical fertilizers led to corn becoming the most popular crop.
• D. He uses comparison and contrast to explain the differences between a family farm and the new kind of farms. 

Part B: What is the purpose of that structure in paragraphs 6 – 8?

• A. to illustrate that corn is much easier to grow than other crops
• B. to establish the idea that modern advances have resulted in too much food being produced
• C. to help develop the idea that there are problems with the practices used by factory farms
• D. to demonstrate that government scientists worked closely with agribusinesses to solve food shortages