#7 - Specific Reference, Must Be True, Author's Perspective

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation

The correct answer choice is (A).

Answer choice (A): This is the correct answer choice.

Answer choice (B):

Answer choice (C):

Answer choice (D):

Answer choice (E):

This explanation is still in progress. Please post any questions below!

[ShiraLL]

Why is A correct instead of D?

[Adam Tyson]

The last sentence of the first paragraph helps us to understand a little more about the methods used outside North America, ShiraLL, and it tells us that those methods are focused on intensity. That supports answer A, because we know the crop geneticists have tended to base their thinking on those methods rather than on indigenous methods that use heirloom varieties.

Answer D is incorrect because it misstates the reason those geneticists are now showing an interest in heirloom varieties. The passage tells us they are now beginning to become interested in heirloom crops as a way of improving and increasing diversity of the genetic pool of plant varieties. It's the commercial varieties that were, for a time, maximizing crop yields, not the heirloom varieties!