This question refers to the following passage:

“For each of us, as for the robin in Michigan or the salmon in the Miramichi, this is a problem of ecology, of interrelationships, of interdependence. We poison the caddis flies in the stream and the salmon runs dwindle and die. . . . We spray our elms and the following springs are silent of robin song, not because we sprayed the robins directly but because the poison traveled, step by step, through the now familiar elm leaf-earthworm-robin cycle. These are matters of record, observable, part of the visible world around us.”

Rachel Carson, Silent Spring, 1962

Which of the following developments contributed most directly to the conditions described in the excerpt?

Question

This question refers to the following passage:

“For each of us, as for the robin in Michigan or the salmon in the Miramichi, this is a problem of ecology, of interrelationships, of interdependence. We poison the caddis flies in the stream and the salmon runs dwindle and die. . . . We spray our elms and the following springs are silent of robin song, not because we sprayed the robins directly but because the poison traveled, step by step, through the now familiar elm leaf-earthworm-robin cycle. These are matters of record, observable, part of the visible world around us.”

Rachel Carson, Silent Spring, 1962

Which of the following developments contributed most directly to the conditions described in the excerpt?

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

Question restatement: The excerpt from Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring discusses ecological interdependence and how actions like spraying pesticides can have ripple effects through food chains, ultimately affecting species such as caddis flies, elm trees, earthworms, robins, and salmon.
Option under consideration: 'The growth of suburban housing on previously undeveloped land.'
Analysis of the option:
- What the option suggests: It implies that converting undeveloped land into suburban housing creates ecological disruption through habitat loss or fragmentation, potentially increasing human-wildlife contact and enabling more pesticide use or runoff from lawns.
- Relevance to the excerpt: Carson emphasizes the chain of indirect effects caused by chemicals moving through ecosystems. While suburban development can contribute to environmental change, the passage centers on chemical agents (like pesticides) and their move through the leaf–earthworm–bird cycle. The option does not directly point to pesticide use or the mechanism Carson highlights.
- Why this is unlikely to be the primary factor described: The most direct cause in the excerpt is the introduction and spread of pollutants (pesticides) through ecological networks, not primarily habitat creation or suburban expansion. Habitat change can be a contributing factor to ecological stress, but the direct causal chain Carson critiques is chemical contamination and its propagation through organisms.
- Potential misconceptions this option might invite: It may lead students to think that merely increasing development automatically explains declines in species, whereas Carson’s argument stresses specific chemical pathways and interdependencies, not general development per se.
- If there were other options (not shown): A choice identifying pesticide use, chemical runoff, or toxicology affecting the food chain would more closely align with Carson’s described mechanism.
- Overall assessment: While suburban growth does impact ecosystems, this option does not directly capture the precise mechanism Carson highlights—the poisoning of streams and the cascade through the leaf-earthworm-robin cycle via chemical pollutants. Therefore, as stated, this option does not fully account for the conditions described in the excerpt.

Note: The question presented only provides this single option and no other choices to compare, which limits the ability to select the most direct contributor among alternatives. In a complete item, the correct choice would likely reference chemical pesticides or similar pollutants that move through food chains, as described in the passage.

AP US History-Oster APUSH multiple-choice practice test #2 (55 minutes)

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