North America - Marvel EDU

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Practice Reading: Multiple Choice, Single Answer ID: #35983 North America

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Read the text and answer the multiple-choice question by selecting the correct response. Only one response is correct.

There is a romantic notion that the forests of North America lay largely untouched before the arrival of European settlers and that the lifestyle of indigenous North American people had had little impact on this pristine wilderness. But studies of pollen and tree survey data have shown a predominance of fire-adapted species such as oak and hickory, which points to a regular, deliberate burning of the undergrowth and low lying trees. It seems that, like the creation of so-called wood pastures in Europe, this burning was a form of forest management practised by indigenous people to promote plant species needed for food and animal fodder.

What is the writer’s main purpose in this extract?

* Click on the correct answer

to criticise the European settlers’ destruction of the forests of North America to assert that indigenous Americans’ lifestyle had only a negligible effect on the landscape to refute the idea that indigenous Americans exerted no control over their environment to contrast natural North American forests with the man-made forests of Europe

Result:

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Option 3: "to refute the idea that indigenous Americans exerted no control over their environment"

Explanation: The text provides evidence that indigenous people practiced forest management, thereby refuting the idea that they had no control over their environment. The mention of deliberate burning and the promotion of specific plant species supports this main purpose.

Option 1: "to criticise the European settlers’ destruction of the forests of North America"

Explanation: The text does not focus on criticizing European settlers; instead, it challenges the romantic notion of untouched forests and highlights the role of indigenous people in forest management.

Option 2: "to assert that indigenous Americans’ lifestyle had only a negligible effect on the landscape"

Explanation: This option contradicts the text, which presents evidence that indigenous Americans actively managed the landscape through practices like controlled burning, indicating a significant impact.

Option 4: "to contrast natural North American forests with the man-made forests of Europe"

Explanation: While the text mentions wood pastures in Europe, it does not primarily aim to contrast them with North American forests. Instead, it focuses on the impact of indigenous practices on the North American landscape.

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