Copy of Secured MC practice quiz Name
Copyright © 2021. The College Board. These materials are part of a College Board program. Use or distribution of these materials online or in print beyond your
school’s participati
...
Copy of Secured MC practice quiz Name
Copyright © 2021. The College Board. These materials are part of a College Board program. Use or distribution of these materials online or in print beyond your
school’s participation in the program is prohibited. Page 1 of 4
(The passage below is a draft.)
(1) Buyers can expect to find bananas of roughly the same size, sweetness, and texture in grocery stores around the
world, and growers can expect consistent yields across thousands of acres of Cavendish banana trees. (2) The
uniformity of the Cavendish banana makes it uniquely vulnerable to disease.
(3) Growing only one breed of a crop is a common way for farmers to maximize output and other desirable
qualities, but the Cavendish banana is terribly lacking in diversity because its trees are grown not from seeds but
from cuttings of existing trees. (4) The dangers of this lack of genetic diversity are illustrated by the story of the
Cavendish’s predecessor in the global market: the Gros Michel banana. (5) Lacking any variants that were resistant
to fusarium wilt, the Gros Michel was wiped out by the 1960s. (6) Banana growers replaced the Gros Michel with
the Cavendish, which was immune to fusarium wilt, but a new fungus that affects the Cavendish has recently
appeared in several banana-producing countries. (7) The history of the Gros Michel appears to be repeating itself
with the Cavendish.
(8) Growers could limit bananas’ vulnerability to disease and prevent devastating epidemics by cultivating more
varieties of banana. (9) But decisions about what bananas to grow depend on what consumers will buy. (10) The
Cavendish is popular because it is familiar, tasty, and inexpensive; other bananas would look and taste different and
may cost more. (11) According to plant pathologist Randy Ploetz, consumers will need to be “more open-minded
about what kind of banana they’ll accept
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