The Irish potato famine of 1845–1851 was a catastrophe that devastated

Question

The Irish potato famine of 1845–1851 was a catastrophe that devastated the country’s population and left Ireland changed forever. By some estimates, the death toll from hunger and disease was as high as one million, and another million or more emigrated to the United States, Britain, and other countries; as a result, Ireland’s population today is lower than it was in 1845. The famine was precipitated by an outbreak of potato blight, a crop disease caused by the fungus Phytophthora infestans, but it was a combination of social and agricultural factors that enabled this simple fungus to create such a tragedy.

In the sixteenth century, Spanish explorers brought the potato from South America to Western Europe. Considered poisonous at first, the potato became popular in Europe during the eighteenth century because it was easy to grow and highly nutritious (humans can actually survive on just milk and potatoes). In Ireland, “lumper” potatoes, which would grow even in poor soil, became an essential source of food. In fact, as the country’s population grew and (in accordance with an ancient custom of dividing inheritances equally among all male heirs) as farms were divided into smaller and smaller plots, lumpers became the only crop that many farmers could grow in quantities sufficient to support their families. By 1845, when the blight first began to cause widespread crop failure, many Irish people were dependent on the potato for their very survival.

Irish agricultural practices of the time turned this precarious situation into a disaster. Years of specialization in a crop that required relatively little effort (lumpers needed little weeding and no irrigation) had left farmers ill-equipped to cope with the loss of that crop; they were in no position to find alternatives to the potato. Furthermore, the Irish crop was dominated by one strain of potato, the lumper, which had no resistance to the blight. As a result, virtually the entire crop was wiped out. Greater genetic variety in the potato crop—planting many different strains of potatoes—might have increased the chances that some varieties would resist the disease and blunt its effect. Today, the potato is still a major part of the Irish diet, but modern agricultural practices and genetic variety in the crop have prevented a recurrence of the famine that ravaged Ireland in the nineteenth century.    1 
 1. The primary purpose of the passage is to

A. discuss the far-reaching effects of the potato famine on the people of Ireland
B. criticize the current over-reliance upon the potato in many countries, which occurs despite the lessons of the Irish potato famine
C. explore the social and agricultural practices that contributed to the Irish potato famine
D. illustrate the numerous benefits of potato farming in Ireland
E. describe measures taken by Irish agricultural experts to prevent a recurrence of the famine

2 
 2. All of the following are discussed as contributing causes of the Irish potato famine EXCEPT:

A. the widespread cultivation of “lumpers” in Ireland
B. the lack of knowledge of irrigation practices among Irish farmers
C. the subdivision of farmland into smaller and smaller plots
D. the nutritional completeness of the potato
E. the wide variety of crops grown in Ireland

3 
 3. The author of this passage would most likely agree with which of the following statements?

A. In order to prevent famine, the Irish should have stopped growing potatoes.
B. The cultivation of other crops in addition to the potato might have alleviated the effects of famine when the potato crop failed.
C. “Lumpers” should only be grown on farmland of such poor quality that nothing else can be cultivated there.
D. The potato contains all of the nutrients essential to supporting a family.
E. The population of Ireland should be controlled in order to prevent too much subdivision of farmland.

4 
 4. The author implies which of the following about specialized farming?

A. Specializing in one crop made it difficult for farmers to adapt when conditions changed.
B. Specializing in one crop was the ideal way to grow potatoes.
C. Specialized farming was solely responsible for the Irish potato famine.
D. Specialized farming was the only agricultural practice used in nineteenth-century Ireland.
E. The abandonment of specialized farming practices would leave societies around the world impervious to a devastating famine.

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Passage # 286 Date: 20-Jul-2021
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globaldesi · Answer

1. The primary purpose of the passage is to

A. discuss the far-reaching effects of the potato famine on the people of Ireland
B. criticize the current over-reliance upon the potato in many countries, which occurs despite the lessons of the Irish potato famine
C. explore the social and agricultural practices that contributed to the Irish potato famine
D. illustrate the numerous benefits of potato farming in Ireland
E. describe measures taken by Irish agricultural experts to prevent a recurrence of the famine

C fits best as passage discuss in detail about the agricultural practices and social behaviour of people.
 
 2. All of the following are discussed as contributing causes of the Irish potato famine EXCEPT:

A. the widespread cultivation of “lumpers” in Ireland
B. the lack of knowledge of irrigation practices among Irish farmers
C. the subdivision of farmland into smaller and smaller plots
D. the nutritional completeness of the potato
E. the wide variety of crops grown in Ireland

E as author points out that absence of wide variety caused famine since potato (lumber) crops were destroyed.

3. The author of this passage would most likely agree with which of the following statements?

A. In order to prevent famine, the Irish should have stopped growing potatoes.
B. The cultivation of other crops in addition to the potato might have alleviated the effects of famine when the potato crop failed.
C. “Lumpers” should only be grown on farmland of such poor quality that nothing else can be cultivated there.
D. The potato contains all of the nutrients essential to supporting a family.
E. The population of Ireland should be controlled in order to prevent too much subdivision of farmland.

B. The cultivation of other crops in addition to the potato might have alleviated the effects of famine when the potato crop failed.  
As other crops may have been resistant to the blight , and famine would be less severe

4. The author implies which of the following about specialized farming?

A. Specializing in one crop made it difficult for farmers to adapt when conditions changed.
B. Specializing in one crop was the ideal way to grow potatoes.
C. Specialized farming was solely responsible for the Irish potato famine.
D. Specialized farming was the only agricultural practice used in nineteenth-century Ireland.
E. The abandonment of specialized farming practices would leave societies around the world impervious to a devastating famine.

A. Specializing in one crop made it difficult for farmers to adapt when conditions changed.  
As paragraph 3 mentions
ears of specialization in a crop that required relatively little effort (lumpers needed little weeding and no irrigation) had left farmers ill-equipped to cope with the loss of that crop; they were in no position to find alternatives to the potato.

NawalDwivedi · Answer

1-C
2-E
3-B
4-A
seems correct

harshgupta12 · Answer

in question 3 why 'd' can't be a good choice

Sajjad1994 · Answer

(D)  is wrong because it is out of the scope of the passage. It is not discussed in the passage that potato contains all of the    nutrients    essential to supporting a family.

The major part of this question is based on  Paragraph two ; Below is the only related part that I can find in the passage.

".......lumpers became the only crop that many farmers could grow in   quantities   sufficient to support their families."

Families were dependent on the production of tomatoes in terms of financial benefits and not in terms of nutritional benefits.

Hence (D) is wrong.

BLTN · Answer

Dear  harshgupta12 
passage provides the following information,
the  potato  became popular in Europe during the eighteenth century because it was easy to grow and  highly nutritious

highly nutritious  does not signify that potato contains ALL necessary nutrients to supporting a family.

Hope it helps.

Molsoo · Answer

Can somebody pls explain why d&e are wrong options for q4?

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Official Explanation

4. The author implies which of the following about specialized farming?

Difficulty Level:   550

Explanation

Analyze the Question Stem:

The word  "implies"  identifies this as an Inference question. The correct answer MUST be true based on the passage, but won’t necessarily be mentioned explicitly.

Research the Relevant Text:

The question stem points to "specialized farming," so that's where to research. Specialization in farming is mentioned only in the last paragraph.

Make a Prediction:

The last paragraph states that specialized farming left farmers without skills (such as knowledge of weeding and irrigation techniques) that would have allowed them to switch to new crops quickly when potatoes were wiped out. It is usually very

Evaluate the Answer Choices:

(A)  agrees with the information in the passage and is correct.

(B)  goes beyond what is stated in the passage, and is incorrect. The passage only says that Irish farmers did specialize in potatoes, not that specialized farming is the best way to grow potatoes.

(C)  is extreme. The passage states that specialized farming worsened the famine, but it also mentions other factors: population growth, land subdivision, and lack of genetic variety in the crop.

(D)  is also extreme. The passage mentions that most farmers specialized in potatoes, but this does not mean that specialized farming was the only practice used in Ireland.

(E) , too, is extreme. There is nothing in the passage to indicate that abandonment of specialized farming would leave all societies around the world completely impervious to famine.

Answer: A

TAKEAWAY:  Beware of extreme language, especially in Inference questions. If a choice uses  "all", "never", "none", "completely"  or other extreme words, always check to be sure the passage itself is that definite.

The Irish potato famine of 1845–1851 was a catastrophe that devastated

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GMAT Reading Comprehension (RC) Questions

The Irish potato famine of 1845–1851 was a catastrophe that devastated

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

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