Chapter Eighteen

Reading Practice Set VIII–Natural Science

Practice Set

2. Directions

   This test contains a passage, followed by several questions. After reading the passage, select the best answer to each question. You are allowed to refer to the passage while answering the questions.

3. This passage is adapted from the paper “Indigenous Uses, Management, and Restoration of Oaks of the Far Western United States.” It was issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service in 2007.

   Today, oaks are plagued with problems. There is lack of regeneration in populations of certain species. Pests such as the acorn weevil and the filbert worm eat away at acorns and prevent germination. By undermining the root systems of seedlings and saplings, ground squirrels, gophers, and other small mammals often prevent these young plants from reaching tree size. Severe diseases, such as sudden oak death, kill many adult oaks. Many mature oaks are having a tough time with fire suppression. In the past, with light surface fires, the oaks had been able to maintain a stronghold where other plants were not able to compete and died out. Now oaks are being toppled by trees that have a higher tolerance for shade and are not fire resistant; earlier such trees would have been killed when Native Americans set fires. Given all of these challenges, the “oldgrowth” oaks—the large old valley oaks, Garry oaks, coast live oaks, and canyon live oaks that have huge girth and large canopies— may become a thing of the past. These oaks in particular are important because there are often more terrestrial vertebrates living in mature oak stands than in seedling and sapling areas. This prevalence of animals occurs because the large crowns of such oaks provide cover and feeding sites for a large variety of wildlife. . The University of California has embarked on an ambitious and necessary research program called the Integrated Hardwood Range Management Program to explore the significant causes of oak decline and offer varied solutions. These include investigating the use of grassing regimes that are compatible with oak seedling establishment, revegetating sites with native grasses to facilitate better germination of oak seedlings, documenting insects and pathogens that attack oaks, and exploring the ways that native people managed oaks in the past. Scientists at the Pacific Northwest Research Station in Olympia, Washington and at Redwood National Park in northern California are reintroducing the burning practices of Native Americans. When used in Garry oak ecosystems, fires keep Douglas firs from encroaching on the oaks and promote the growth of wildflowers that are important food plants. Further investigations about these fire practices may be essential in figuring out how to maintain oaks in the western landscape today, given that the fires address many of the factors that are now causing oak decline—from how to eliminate insect pests of acorns to how to maintain an open structure in oak groves. . Ecological restoration, the traditional approach to woodland maintenance, referred to humans intervening on a very limited time scale to bring back plants and animals known to have existed in an area historically. However, the decline of oaks, one of the most significant plants to Native Americans, shows us that humans may play an integral part in the restoration of oak areas. While animals such as jays have been recognized as crucial partners in oak well-being, human actions through the eons may also have been the key to the oaks’ flourishing. . Sudden oak death, for example, although of exotic origin, may be curtailed locally by thinning around coastal oaks and tan oaks and setting light surface fires, simulating ancient fire management practices of Native Americans. Indigenous shrubs and trees that grow in association with oaks are hosts to the sudden oak death pathogen. By limiting the growth of these shrubs, burning that mimics earlier Native American ways may reduce opportunities for disease agents to jump from other plants to oak trees. With a more open environment, it may be harder for sudden oak death to spread. . The oak landscapes that we inherited, which still bear the marks of former Native American interactions, demand a new kind of restoration that complements other forms of ecological restoration. This new kind of restoration could be called ethnobotanical restoration , defined as reestablishing the historic plant communities of a given area and restoring indigenous harvesting, vegetation management, and cultivation practices (seedbeating, burning, pruning, sowing, tilling, and weeding) necessary to maintain these communities in the long term. . Thus, this kind of restoration is not only about restoring plants, but also about restoring the human place within nature. Ethnobotancial restoration is viewed not as a process that can be completed, but rather as a continuous interaction between people and plants as both their fates are intertwined in a region. Uniting oaks and people once again through harvesting acorns, making products from all parts of the tree, knocking the trees, and setting light fires may offer us ways to coexist, receive products from, and benefit the long-term health and well-being of the remarkable oak.

4. 1. Natural Science

   2. All of the following challenges to the health of the oak population are mentioned in the passage EXCEPT:

      1. small mammals attacking the root systems of young trees.
      2. sudden oak death caused by a pathogen.
      3. grazing deer removing bark from the tree trunks.
      4. competition from other plants such as shade tolerant trees.

   3. As described in the passage, traditional ecological restoration differs from ethnobotanical restoration in that:

      1. ethnobotanical restoration takes place over a longer period of time than ecological restoration.
      2. ecological restoration involves introducing particular plants and management practices, whereas ethnobotanical restoration involves only the introduction of plants.
      3. only ecological restoration follows historically proven ecological principles.
      4. ecological restoration is meant to be used in conjunction with other restorative practices, whereas ethnobotanical restoration is meant to be used in isolation.

   4. An important assumption underlying this passage is that:

      1. the decline of the oak population is due primarily to root damage caused by ground squirrels, gophers, and other small mammals.
      2. reinstituting indigenous cultivation practices is likely to be sufficient to restore the health of the oak population.
      3. damage to many species of oak started centuries ago when Native Americans selectively set fires in many areas.
      4. the practices of Native Americans offer lessons to modern researchers about how to promote a healthy oak population.

   5. According to the passage, one way to reduce the incidence of sudden oak death is to:

      1. reduce the population of animals that destroy the root systems of the oaks.
      2. control the number of certain shrubs that grow in the vicinity of oak trees.
      3. regulate the importation of the exotic plants that introduced the sudden oak death pathogen to the United States.
      4. plant several varieties of oaks, particularly tan oaks and coastal oaks, to strengthen the oak population in general.

   6. The author refers to the “huge girth and large canopies” (line 24–25) of the old-growth oaks in order to:

      1. provide a description of what the various old-growth oak trees look like.
      2. argue that the old-growth trees are too large to be sustained in a modern ecosystem.
      3. support the explanation of why more vertebrates live in mature oak stands.
      4. indicate that Native Americans valued these trees for their ability to produce shade.

   7. The primary purpose of the first paragraph is to:

      1. discuss how oak trees provide a habitat for various animals.
      2. suggest ways in which the declining oak population can be restored.
      3. support the argument that sudden oak death is not as common as rampant forest fires.
      4. describe current challenges to the health of the oak population.

   8. Based on the passage as a whole, it is likely that:

      1. human intervention will be crucial in restoring the native oak population.
      2. despite much historical study, it will be impossible to recreate the cultivation practices of early Native Americans.
      3. documentation of the insects and pathogens that attack oak trees is the best way to begin the restoration process.
      4. native shrubs and trees that grow near oaks have served as kindling for many fires that damaged the oak population.

   9. The author mentions “trees that have a higher tolerance for shade” (line 17) as an example of:

      1. one type of vegetation that is desirable to plant near oaks.
      2. a currently existing problem that presents a new kind of threat to the oak population.
      3. one of the drawbacks associated with several of the old-growth oak species.
      4. the types of plants Native Americans cultivated.

   10. It can be inferred from the third paragraph that:

       1. the oak population in Redwood National Park has faced greater threats than oak populations elsewhere.
       2. native grasses have been shown to deprive oak seedlings of nutrients.
       3. the sudden oak death pathogen has been the primary cause of oak decline.
       4. researchers are interested in finding multiple avenues to restoring the health of the oaks.

   11. As stated in the passage, the effect of light surface fires on oaks is to:

       1. promote the health of oaks by limiting vegetation that would compete with them.
       2. reduce the number of oak trees by destroying the acorns before they can seed.
       3. create scars in the bark that allow for the entrance of the sudden oak death pathogen.
       4. harm the oaks by destroying the nests of jays.

   12. From the last paragraph, it is reasonable to infer that the author would agree with all of the following statements EXCEPT:

       1. the well-being of people is related to the well-being of plant populations.
       2. it is advisable to complete the restoration of the oaks before turning to other types of ethnobotanical restoration.
       3. human intervention is not always harmful to the health of the natural world.
       4. harvesting parts of the oak tree to make products for human use need not harm the oak population as a whole.

   13. The word curtailed as used in line 77 most nearly means:

       1. eliminated.
       2. ended.
       3. explored.
       4. limited.