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Centralia's corn planting! Complete the passage.

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Centralia's corn planting! Complete the passage.

by amysky_0205 » Thu Dec 20, 2012 6:09 pm
Which of the following most logically completes the passage below?

Heavy rains during Centralia's corn planting season prevented some farmers there from planting corn. It is now the planting season for soybeans, another of Centralia's principal crops, and those fields originally intended for corn are dry enough for planting. Nonetheless, even though soybean prices are unusually high at present, the farmers will leave most of these fields empty rather than plant them with soybeans, since___________.

A. the extensive rains have led to an increase in the price of corn
B. some Centralian farmers anticipate serious financial losses due to the extremely wet spring planting season
C. chemicals that were used to prepare the fields for corn planting would stunt the growth of soybeans
D. the majority of Centralia's corn farmers were able to plant corn as they had intended, despite the wet planting season
E. many Centralian farmers grow both corn and soybeans

OA: C

can someone explain A, B and D?

thank u so much (:
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by puneetkhurana2000 » Thu Dec 20, 2012 6:52 pm
In these fields farmers will not grow either corn or soybean. Corn can't be planted because these fields are dry enough and soybeans can't be planted despite high prices (farmers are not sure about good produce).

A - Does not talk about why farmers should not plant soybeans.
B - I think its a good reason for not planting any crop but high prices of soybean can benefit farmers.
D - Does not talk about why farmers should not plant soybeans.

Hope this explains!!!
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by ceilidh.erickson » Sat Dec 22, 2012 3:11 pm
When you have a CR problem that asks you to explain a discrepancy, it's usually in this format:
It's true that ______. Normally, you'd think this would mean ______. In this case, though, _______.

So in our example here:

It's true that some farmers didn't plant corn. Normally, you'd think this would mean that they're going to plant soybeans. In this case, though, they're planting neither corn nor soybeans.

We need to find an answer choice that keeps our original condition (they did't plant corn) as well as the surprising finding (they didn't plant soybeans, either). Beware of answer choices that support what you thought the outcome would be (they would plant soybeans)!

A. goes against the given premise that many didn't plant corn
B. don't speak to what they're planting at all
D. goes against the given premise that many didn't plant corn
E. goes against the finding that these farmers did not plant soybeans
Ceilidh Erickson
EdM in Mind, Brain, and Education
Harvard Graduate School of Education
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