TOEFL Questions

Farmers conserve or add to the fertility of the soil by keeping some land fallow each season. Fallow land is plowed but is not seeded during a growing season. Farmers also help keep the soil fertile by growing a fallow crop. A fallow crop is one that nourishes the soil, such as soybeans. Extensive irrigation systems and complex farm machinery also help to increase the region’s agricultural production. Nearly all farmers in the United States and Canada use tractors rather than animals for plowing. However, owners of smaller farms often find it too costly to buy equipment such as combines. These machines are very costly and are best suited for very large farms. As more-complex and more-expensive machinery is developed, it is harder for owners of small farms to compete with the owners of large farms. Therefore, the number of large farms in the United States and Canada is steadily increasing, while the number of small farms is decreasing.

Q1. All of the following are mentioned as helping increase the productivity of farmland EXCEPT

(A) leaving some portion of land without crops growing on it

(B) growing of a crop that can increase the fertility of the soil

(C) using animals instead of machines for plowing

Q2. According to the paragraph, small farms are diminishing because

(A) they are losing competitiveness to large farms equipped with newly-developed machinery

(B) the tractors and combines they use are too outdated compared with those of large farms

(C) many of them are turning to the livestock industry to earn more profit

A1. (C)

A2. (A)