Question 140·Medium·Central Ideas and Details
Farmers often drape fine plastic nets over fruit trees to protect them from birds. Sonia Mateos and her team studied orchards covered with such nets to determine their impact on pollinating insects. They found that while the nets did deter birds, they also reduced pollinator visits by 60 percent, leading to smaller harvests. Mateos concluded that any benefit from preventing bird damage is outweighed by the loss in pollination.
According to the text, what did Mateos conclude about the use of protective nets in orchards?
For questions asking about a researcher’s conclusion or main finding, go straight to where the author summarizes results—often the last one or two sentences, especially if you see words like “concluded,” “therefore,” or “suggests.” Paraphrase that statement in your own words first, then eliminate any choices that contradict the passage, leave out key parts of the conclusion, or introduce new information not mentioned in the text. Focus on the overall effect (positive, negative, or neutral) and make sure the correct choice matches that overall idea, not just a single detail.
Hints
Find the sentence with the word “concluded”
Look for the sentence that directly says what Mateos “concluded”—this is where her main judgment about the nets is stated.
Compare benefits and drawbacks
In that conclusion sentence, what is the benefit of using nets, and what is the downside mentioned? Think about which one is said to be larger overall.
Check overall effect on harvests
The passage says the nets changed harvest size. Ask: does the conclusion say the nets end up helping crops, hurting them, or not really changing yield? Then pick the choice that matches that idea.
Step-by-step Explanation
Identify what the question is asking
The question asks what Mateos concluded about the use of protective nets in orchards. That means you need the author’s overall judgment or final evaluation, not just a single detail.
Locate the conclusion in the passage
Look at the last sentence: “Mateos concluded that any benefit from preventing bird damage is outweighed by the loss in pollination.” This sentence directly states her conclusion.
Paraphrase the key idea
Focus on the phrase “any benefit … is outweighed by the loss in pollination.”
- The nets have two effects: they help by stopping bird damage but hurt by cutting pollinator visits.
- “Outweighed” means the negative effect (less pollination) is greater than the positive effect (less bird damage), so the overall impact on harvests is worse, not better.
Match the paraphrase to the answer choice
Now compare that idea to the choices:
- We need the choice that says the negative impact on crops from reduced pollination is larger than the positive impact from preventing bird damage.
- Choice D, “The nets cause greater crop losses than the bird damage they prevent,” matches that idea exactly, so D is correct.