GRE Reading Comprehension

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Source: OG2

For hot desert locations with access to seawater, a new greenhouse design generates freshwater and cool air. Oriented to the prevailing wind, the front wall of perforated cardboard, moistened and cooled by a trickle of seawater pumped in, cools and moistens hot air blowing in. This cool, humidified air accelerates plant growth; little water evaporates from leaves. Though greenhouses normally capture the heat of sunlight, a double-layered roof, the inner layer coated to reflect infrared light outward, allows visible sunlight in but traps solar heat between the two layers. This heated air, drawn down from the roof, then mixes with the greenhouse air as it reaches a second seawater-moistened cardboard wall at the back of the greenhouse. There the air absorbs more moisture, which then condenses on a metal wall cooled by seawater, and thus distilled water for irrigating the plants collects.

Question List: 1 2

A ten-year comparison between the United States and the Soviet Union in terms of crop yields per acre revealed that when only planted acreage is compared, Soviet yields were equal to 68 percent of United States yields. When total agricultural acreage (planted acreage plus fallow acreage) is compared, however, Soviet yield was 114 percent of United States yield.

From the information above, which of the following can be most reliably inferred about United States and Soviet agriculture during the ten-year period?

  • A A higher percentage of total agricultural acreage was fallow in the United States than in the Soviet Union.
  • B The United States had more fallow acreage than planted acreage.
  • C Fewer total acres of available agricultural land were fallow in the Soviet Union than in the United States.
  • D The Soviet Union had more planted acreage than fallow acreage.
  • E The Soviet Union produced a greater volume of crops than the United States produced.

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