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module14
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1992-03-24
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202 lines
NEW SET
A
Like its relative the tomato, the potato was looked upon with
suspicion and fear. Potatoes were variously suspected of causing
leprosy and scrofula, and of shortening men's lives. Said one
seventeenth-century writer: "Eating of these roots doth excite Venus
and increaseth lust."
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1
1. The seventeenth century writer considered potatoes to be:
A. an aphrodisiac
B. an antidote to poison
C. a poison
D. a heavenly experience
E. a gift from the goddess Venus
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a
0
B
Correct.
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wrong answer explanation
B
(A) This writer considered potatoes to be an aphrodisiac.
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NEW SET
B
The Spanish conquistadors invading the Andes about 1530 observed
the Incas growing potatoes. These highland Indians could not cultivate
maize, the staple crop of lowland Peru, because maize does not grow
above 11,000 feet. But potatoes flourished at that altitude, and the
Incas learned to freeze and dry them for storage against leaner times.
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1
1. The Incas in the Andes grew potatoes because:
A. potatoes keep for long periods of time
B. Incas disliked corn
C. corn will not grow in low altitudes
D. potatoes will not grow in low altitudes
E. corn will not grow at high altitudes
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e
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C
Correct.
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wrong answer explanation
C
(E) The Incas grew potatoes because corn does not grow at high altitudes.
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NEW SET
C
They were sometimes as small as peanuts, too. This was because the
Incas ate the largest potatoes and saved the smallest for planting, a
practice whose improvidence would have caused a breeder like Luther
Burbank to shudder.
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1
1. Burbank would shudder because:
A. small potatoes taste better than big ones
B. planting small potatoes yields crops of small potatoes
C. Burbank thought potatoes caused leprosy
D. Burbank thought potatoes were a poison
E. potatoes were for the wealthy, and the Incas were poor
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b
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D
Correct.
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wrong answer explanation
D
(B) Planting smaller potatoes would produce crops of small potatoes.
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NEW SET
D
But the conquistadors saw the potato's potential and in 1539
brought it to Spain from Quito, Ecuador. (In the next 300 years, the
potato probably made more transatlantic trips than a member of today's
jet set. The Spanish reexported it to Florida in 1560 and Scotch-Irish
immigrants brought the "Irish" potato to New England in 1719.) Records
show that potatoes were included in an order for provisions by a Seville
hospital in 1573. Potatoes were common in Italy by 1601.
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1
1. Potatoes were imported to Europe by:
A. jet
B. train
C. boat
D. car
E. mule-train
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c
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2
Correct.
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wrong answer explanation
2
(C) They were carried across the Atlantic by boat.
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2
2. The conquistadors were from:
A. Florida
B. Scotland
C. Ireland
D. New England
E. Spain
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e
0
E
Correct.
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wrong answer explanation
E
(E) The conquistadors came from Spain.
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NEW SET
E
How potatoes got to Ireland is obscure. Some historians say that
Sir Walter Raleigh introduced them. It is known that potatoes were
planted on his Irish estate by 1586. Others believe that plunderers
rescued potatoes from the holds of Spanish Armada ships wrecked off the
coast of Ireland in 1588. However they arrived, potatoes were accepted
within 50 years, and by the 18th century were planted to the exclusion
of other food crops.
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1
1. By the 1700's:
A. potatoes were grown in every country in Europe
B. potatoes were the staple crop in Ireland
C. potatoes grew only on Sir Walter Raleigh's estate
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b
0
F
Correct.
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wrong answer explanation
F
(B) Potatoes became Ireland's staple crop.
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NEW SET
F
Potatoes flourished in the Irish soil and climate and produced
so well that a single acre could provide enough food for a farmer and
his family, as well as for a cow, a pig, and some chickens. When the
fungus "Phytophthora infestans" destroyed the potato crops in 1846-1851,
the Irish peasant had nothing to fall back on.
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1
1. In Ireland, the potato provided all of the following EXCEPT:
A. cattle fodder
B. chicken feed
C. a medicinal fungus
D. a dietary staple
E. food for pigs
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c
0
G
Correct.
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wrong answer explanation
G
(C) The potato did not provide a medicinal fungus.
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NEW SET
G
The resulting "potato famine" was responsible for sending a stream
of well over a million immigrants to the United States during the famine
years, giving America her second largest ethnic group.
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1
1. The Irish immigrants came to America:
A. because of religious persecution
B. because there was no food
C. because there was a war in England
D. to avoid military service
E. because the English would not buy potatoes, but Americans would
buy them
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b
0
2
Correct.
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wrong answer explanation
2
(B) The Irish immigrants came to America because of the potato famine
in Ireland.
end