From the list of headings choose the most suitable headings for paragraphs B-G.
NB There are more headings than paragraphs so you will not use all of them. You may use any heading more than once.
Farmers Harvest the Wind
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A. Some farmers and ranchers in the United States are raising a new cash crop: electricity. They have discovered that they own not only land but also the wind rights that go with that land.
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B. A farmer in Iowa who leases a quarter acre of cropland to the local utility as a site for a wind turbine can typically earn $2,000 a year in royalties from the electricity produced. In a good year, that same plot can produce $100 worth of com. Wind turbines strung across the farm at appropriate intervals can provide a welcome boost to farm income, yielding a year-round cash flow.
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C. Harnessing the wind has become increasingly profitable. The American Wind Energy Association reports that the cost per kilowatt-hour of wind-generated electricity has fallen from 380 to 30 - 60 in 2000, depending primarily on wind speed at the site. Already competitive with other sources, the cost of wind-generated electricity is expected to continue to decline. These falling costs, facilitated by advances in wind turbine design, help explain why wind power is expanding rapidly beyond its original stronghold in California.
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D. As wind farms have come online in farming and ranching states such as Minnesota, Iowa, Texas, and Wyoming, wind electric generation has soared, pushing US wind-generating capacity from 1,928 megawatts in 1998 to 2,490 megawatts in 1999 — a gain of 29%. Contrary to public perceptions, the potential of wind power is enormous. A US Department of Energy wind resource inventory found that three states — North Dakota, Kansas, and Texas — have enough harnessable wind energy to meet the electricity needs for the whole country.
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E. In the Great Plains, where an acre of rangeland produces only $20 worth of beef a year or where an acre in wheat may yield $120 worth of grain, the attraction of wind power is obvious. For ranchers with prime wind sites, income from wind could easily exceed that from cattle sales. And the turbines scattered across a farm or ranch do not interfere with the use of the land for farming or cattle grazing.
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F. Another attraction is that much of the income generated stays in the local community, since a single large wind turbine can generate $100,000 or more worth of electricity per year, harnessing local wind energy can revitalize rural communities.
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G. Many state governments are taking the initiative. Minnesota is requiring its largest utility to install 425 megawatts of wind-generating capacity by 2002. In Texas, the legislature has set a goal of 2,000 megawatts of generating capacity from renewable sources by 2009, with most of it expected to come from the state’s abundant wind power. In Colorado, offering a wind power option to both residential and business electricity users has led to the installation of 20 megawatts of wind-generating capacity — an amount expected to double soon.
AI explanationShows the answer. Tap to open.
Question Focus: Main idea - farmers have found a new way to earn money from their land: electricity
Why this is correct: The paragraph says some farmers are raising a new cash crop: electricity, because they own the wind rights on their land. The whole paragraph introduces this one new idea.
Passage Reference: Some farmers and ranchers in the United States are raising a new cash crop: electricity. They have discovered that they own not only land but also the wind rights that go with that land.
Tips: The first paragraph often introduces the big new idea. Choose the heading that names that idea, not one about later details like money or costs.
Why the other options are wrong:
- Farm income increased: This paragraph gives no figures about income. Money comes later in the passage. This is a wrong section trap.
- Wide use of wind power: Only some farmers are doing this, so wind power is not described as widely used. This is a qualification trap.
Key Vocabulary:
- cash crop = a crop grown to sell for money
- wind rights = the right to use the wind over your land
Question Focus: Main idea - a wind turbine earns a farmer much more than crops on the same land
Passage Reference: A farmer in Iowa who leases a quarter acre of cropland to the local utility as a site for a wind turbine can typically earn $2,000 a year in royalties from the electricity produced. In a good year, that same plot can produce $100 worth of com. Wind turbines strung across the farm at appropriate intervals can provide a welcome boost to farm income, yielding a year-round cash flow.
Why this is correct: The paragraph compares $2,000 a year in royalties from a turbine with only $100 from crops on the same plot. Turbines give a welcome boost to farm income, so farm income goes up.
Tips: When a paragraph compares two amounts of money, ask who gets the money. Here it is the farmer, so the heading is about farm income.
Why the other options are wrong:
- Extra income: This is close, but here the passage talks about farm income directly. The idea of extra money on top of farming comes in the Great Plains paragraph. This is a partial truth trap.
- A boost to rural economy: The boost here is to one farm's income, not to the whole local community. This is a context shift trap.
Key Vocabulary:
- royalties = regular payments for the use of something you own
- cash flow = money coming in
Question Focus: Main idea - electricity from wind is getting cheaper
Passage Reference: Harnessing the wind has become increasingly profitable. The American Wind Energy Association reports that the cost per kilowatt-hour of wind-generated electricity has fallen from 380 to 30 - 60 in 2000, depending primarily on wind speed at the site. Already competitive with other sources, the cost of wind-generated electricity is expected to continue to decline. These falling costs, facilitated by advances in wind turbine design, help explain why wind power is expanding rapidly beyond its original stronghold in California.
Why this is correct: The paragraph says the cost per kilowatt-hour of wind-generated electricity has fallen and is expected to continue to decline. Almost every sentence is about the cost going down.
Tips: If most sentences repeat one idea in different words, like fallen, decline and falling costs, that idea is the heading.
Why the other options are wrong:
- Wide use of wind power: Wind power is expanding rapidly, but the paragraph gives the falling costs as the reason for this. The cost is the main idea. This is a causation trap.
- Farm income increased: Increasingly profitable sounds like income, but the paragraph is about the price of electricity, not what farmers earn. This is a paraphrase trap.
Key Vocabulary:
- harnessing = catching and using
- decline = go down
- stronghold = the place where something is strongest
Question Focus: Main idea - the US has a huge amount of wind energy it could use
Passage Reference: Contrary to public perceptions, the potential of wind power is enormous.
Why this is correct: The key sentence is the potential of wind power is enormous. Just three states have enough harnessable wind energy to meet the electricity needs for the whole country - a very large wind resource.
Tips: Words like Contrary to public perceptions often introduce the writer's main point. Read the words that come after them carefully.
Why the other options are wrong:
- Wide use of wind power: Wind generation has soared, but the main point is what the wind could give in the future, not how widely it is used today. This is a time/tense trap.
- Declining costs OF wind power: Costs are not mentioned in this paragraph. That idea belongs to the paragraph before. This is a wrong section trap.
Key Vocabulary:
- potential = what is possible in the future
- harnessable = able to be caught and used
- soared = went up very quickly
Question Focus: Main idea - wind gives ranchers and farmers money on top of their normal farming
Passage Reference: For ranchers with prime wind sites, income from wind could easily exceed that from cattle sales. And the turbines scattered across a farm or ranch do not interfere with the use of the land for farming or cattle grazing.
Why this is correct: Income from wind could easily exceed that from cattle sales, and the turbines do not interfere with the use of the land. Farmers keep their normal income and get wind money as well.
Tips: Look for signs that something is added on top of what is already there. Here the land can still be used for farming, so the wind money is extra.
Why the other options are wrong:
- Farm income increased: This is close, but the special point here is that wind money comes on top of farming, because the land can still be used. This is a partial truth trap.
- Land value raised: The paragraph talks about what an acre produces, not what the land is worth. This is a Not Given trap.
Key Vocabulary:
- exceed = be more than
- interfere with = get in the way of
- prime = the best
Question Focus: Main idea - money from wind stays in the area and helps rural communities
Passage Reference: Another attraction is that much of the income generated stays in the local community, since a single large wind turbine can generate $100,000 or more worth of electricity per year, harnessing local wind energy can revitalize rural communities.
Why this is correct: Much of the income generated stays in the local community, and wind energy can revitalize rural communities. The money helps the whole countryside area, not just one farmer.
Tips: Check who the paragraph is about. A heading about one farmer and a heading about a whole community can both mention money.
Why the other options are wrong:
- Extra income: Income is mentioned, but the main point is who gains: the local community, not one farmer. This is a context shift trap.
- Farm income increased: The paragraph is about money staying in rural communities, not farms earning more. This is a paraphrase trap.
Key Vocabulary:
- revitalize = bring new life and energy to
- rural = in the countryside
- generate = produce
Question Focus: Main idea - US states are acting to grow wind power
Passage Reference: Many state governments are taking the initiative. Minnesota is requiring its largest utility to install 425 megawatts of wind-generating capacity by 2002.
Why this is correct: The first sentence gives the main idea: Many state governments are taking the initiative. The rest of the paragraph gives examples from Minnesota, Texas and Colorado.
Tips: When a paragraph starts with a general statement and then lists examples, the heading usually matches the general statement.
Why the other options are wrong:
- Wide use of wind power: Many megawatts are listed, but every example is about what state governments are doing. This is an example-as-main-idea trap.
- Large wind resource in US: Texas wind is only a detail here. The paragraph is about government plans and goals. This is a wrong section trap.
Key Vocabulary:
- taking the initiative = starting to act first
- legislature = the group that makes laws
- renewable = coming from sources that do not run out
General Tips:
- Read all headings first and underline key words before matching.
- Focus on the main idea of the whole paragraph, not one interesting detail.
- If numbers are used to support one idea, that idea is usually the heading.
- Headings follow paragraph order, so move step by step.
- If two headings seem similar, choose the one that covers more of the paragraph.
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