Digital PSAT Reading and Writing Practice Question 155: Answer and Explanation

Question: 155

When researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:

■ Bonanza farms were large and incredibly profitable farms on the Great Plains in the 1800s.

■ The reapers by Cyrus McCormick and steel plows by John Deere contributed to these farms.

■ Another development that supported the development of these farms was displacement of Native Americans onto reservations, thereby opening of huge tracts of land to American settlers.

■ The laying of railroad tracks also greatly helped these farmers, as they could now easily bring supplies to their farms and ship their crops East.

■ The bonanza farm era continued until the Panic of 1873 and the Great Drought of the 1880s.

The student wants to highlight how changes to national transportation infrastructure positively impacted the development of bonanza farms. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?

• A. The profits of bonanza farms in the 1800s were without historical precedent.
• B. New railroad tracks enabled bonanza farmers to both obtain supplies from and sell goods to faraway regions.
• C. Ultimately, bonanza farms were doomed to failure because of the economic developments of the late 1800s.
• D. Without the displacement of Native Americans onto reservations, bonanza farmers would not have had the land they wanted to create their large farms.

Correct Answer: B

Explanation:

(B) The student wants to highlight the impact that national transportation infrastructure changes had on helping bonanza farms develop-emphasizing how the railroad tracks connected the farmers to faraway regions would accomplish this goal. The other options do not connect to the development of transportation infrastructure.