A question about two texts tests whether you can tell how one writer would answer another’s claim. Read the question to find who responds and which claim they answer, especially when only one sentence is underlined. Put that claim and the responding writer’s evidence in a few words. Then name the stance: reject means disagree, qualify means add limits, and extend means take it further. A choice can take the right side but still give a reason the writer never offers.
Hints
- Hint 1
Look for what the underlined sentence rules out. What conclusion does Text 1 draw from the difference in yields?
- Hint 2
Compare the study’s yield result with Text 1’s reason for its conclusion. How far apart were the organic and conventional harvests in Deshmukh’s study?
- Hint 3
Use Deshmukh’s final sentence to name her stance. How does it respond to the underlined claim about organic farming’s role?
Step-by-step
Find the stance and its reason
Step 1Identify the target
Text 1 uses lower yields to claim that organic farming cannot contribute meaningfully to feeding the world’s growing population. Who answers that claim? The question names Deshmukh, the researcher in Text 2, so we need her view on whether organic farms can help meaningfully, not whether they can replace all conventional farms.
- Step 2
Compare the yields
What did Deshmukh find when organic techniques improved? Cover crops and compost-based fertilizers increased yields to within 5 percent of neighboring conventional farms. The harvests were close to conventional yields, and these gains came with fewer synthetic inputs and preserved soil health.
- Step 3
Decide what she rejects
Does the yield comparison make Deshmukh accept Text 1’s conclusion? She says organic farms can become a significant component of future food-production strategies, so she rejects the claim that organic farming has no meaningful role. The response that would partially agree and say farms can only supplement, not replace adds a limit she never sets. It asks whether organic farms can replace conventional farms rather than help feed people.
- Step 4
Match her reason
The response about reducing food waste gives a reason Deshmukh never offers, while echo the claim reverses her view. Which response challenges the claim for her own reason? The line calling it outdated uses improved yields to challenge the claim, which directly answers Text 1’s concern about lower crop yields than conventional agriculture. Choice D.