In “Hydroponics,” what is one way the author connects traditional farms with the destruction of the environment? A. Traditional farms are extremely dirty and filled with bugs and weeds. B. Traditional farms cannot feed the growing number of people on Earth. C. Traditional farms are so large that they expand into essential ecosystems. D. Traditional farms are affected by droughts, frosts, and other extreme weather.

In “Soil,” what is one way the author makes a distinction between farming in soil and hydroponic farming? A. The author contrasts the large yields of traditional farming with the smaller yields of hydroponics. B. The author contrasts the problems of traditional farming with the solutions offered by hydroponics. C. The author contrasts the natural component of traditional farming with the scientific component of hydroponics. D. The author contrasts the environmental cost of traditional farming with the environmental benefit of hydroponics.

Which sentence from “Hydroponics” supports the central idea of the text? A. Therefore, these farms take up less space than what is needed for open-field agriculture. (paragraph 2) B. In open-field farming, water is lost through evaporation and poor irrigation. (paragraph 3) C. Other problems faced by traditional farmers are those of bugs and weeds. (paragraph 5) D. Some people claim that the best-tasting food comes from the soil. (

Which sentence from “Hydroponics” BEST supports the inference in Part A? A. Hydroponics is farming without the dirty soil and all its problems. (paragraph 2) B. Hydroponic farming uses less water than traditional farming because the water is recycled. (paragraph 3) C. With hydroponics, there is no need for pesticides and herbicides, which keeps toxic chemicals away from our food. (paragraph 5) D. Kalera, one of the earliest commercial indoor farms, says that its romaine lettuce contains 50% more proteins, vitamins, and minerals than romaine that is grown traditionally. (paragraph 6)

Which sentence from “Hydroponics” shows how the author responds to people with a different viewpoint? A. When people think of farms, they think of what is now called open-field agriculture. (paragraph 1) B. AppHarvest, an indoor farming company in Appalachia, states they are able to grow 30 times more produce than what could be yielded in soil on the same size plot of land. (paragraph 2) C. However, anyone who has eaten the crisp leafy lettuces and juicy sweet strawberries grown hydroponically will tell you they are no less delicious than those grown in soil. (paragraph 6) D. The growing number of people on Earth calls for an increase in the food supply. (paragraph 7)

Technological advances in the 20th and 21st centuries have dramatically increased the amount of food farmers can produce, leading to lowered food prices and increased variety of available foods. However, these technologies often also have unintended ecological impacts, which can ultimately decrease land quality and negatively impact food production in the long-term. Consequently, -------Which choice most logically completes the text?farmers should use modern technology as aggressively as possible.eliminatefarmers must balance short-term production with long-term sustainability.eliminatefarmers should disregard the ecological impact of agricultural technologies in favor of short-term production.eliminatemodern technologies ultimately lower food production.