Question 35·Medium·Inferences
At a city planning conference, ecologist Marisol Chen discussed urban tree-planting strategies. She noted that municipalities often prioritize planting as many saplings as possible, but survival rates drop sharply without funds for watering and pest management during the first three years. Chen added that residents who receive brief training and modest stipends to monitor nearby trees significantly improve survival, even when the number of trees planted is reduced to cover the stipends.
Based on Chen’s remarks, establishing resident monitoring programs would most likely ______
Which choice most logically completes the text?
For SAT “most logically completes the text” questions, first pinpoint the key sentence(s) that lead directly into the blank and restate their main idea in your own words before looking at the choices. Then quickly eliminate any options that (1) introduce new ideas or requirements not mentioned in the passage, (2) use extreme language like “always,” “never,” or “guarantee” when the text is more moderate, or (3) contradict the cause-and-effect described. Finally, pick the choice that most closely matches your paraphrase of the passage’s logic, even if the wording is different.
Hints
Focus on the key sentence
Look closely at the final sentence, where Chen talks about residents who receive training and stipends. What two things does she say happen when this program is used?
Notice the trade-off
Chen mentions that the number of trees planted is reduced, but something improves at the same time. What improves, and how might that affect how many trees are still alive years later?
Watch for extreme or added claims
Check each answer choice for words like “unnecessary,” “full-time,” or “guarantee.” Do Chen’s remarks actually support these strong claims, or do they go beyond what she says?
Step-by-step Explanation
Understand what the question is asking
The question asks what establishing resident monitoring programs would most likely do, based on Chen’s remarks. So we must infer the main effect of these programs using only the information in the passage.
Locate the key information about monitoring programs
The crucial sentence is the last one: Chen says that residents who get brief training and modest stipends to monitor nearby trees significantly improve survival, even when the number of trees planted is reduced to cover the stipends. This tells us two things happen at the same time:
- Fewer trees are planted at first (because some money goes to stipends instead of planting).
- A higher percentage of the planted trees survive (survival is “significantly” improved).
Put Chen’s point into your own words
Rephrase that key sentence: when cities shift some funds from planting lots of saplings to supporting resident monitoring, they plant a smaller number of new trees, but more of those trees live longer instead of dying early. So there is a trade-off: quantity planted goes down, but long-term survival goes up.
Test each answer choice against the passage
Now compare each option to Chen’s remarks:
- Choice A says additional planting becomes unnecessary in some neighborhoods. Chen never suggests that new planting is no longer needed; she only talks about survival rates and funding trade-offs.
- Choice B says cities must hire full-time arborists for every block. Chen mentions only brief training and modest stipends for residents, not new full-time staff positions.
- Choice C says the programs guarantee that all new trees survive past three years. Chen says survival is significantly improved, not that it becomes perfect.
- One remaining choice matches the idea that you plant fewer trees initially because of the cost of stipends, but end up with more trees surviving into maturity because survival rates are higher.
The choice that states this idea is D: result in planting fewer trees at first but increasing the number that survive into maturity.