Passage: "Every year a tree adds a layer of new wood beneath its bark. In temperate climates that layer is not uniform: the wood formed in spring is pale and open, the wood formed later in the season is dark and dense, and the boundary between one year's dark wood and the next year's pale wood shows as a ring. Counting the rings therefore gives the age of the tree. Their widths give something more useful. A year of good growing conditions produces a wide ring, a year of drought a narrow one, and because all the trees in a region experience the same weather, the sequence of wide and narrow rings is shared across them. That shared pattern can be matched between a living tree and a dead one that overlaps with it in time, and then between that dead tree and an older one, extending the record backwards for thousands of years. The method has a limit that is easy to overlook. A ring records the conditions that constrained growth, and in a wet region growth may be constrained by temperature rather than by rainfall. A narrow ring is evidence that something was wrong, not evidence of what." What is the main purpose of the passage?

Explaining how tree rings are used to build a record of past growing conditions, and noting a limit of that method.

Warning that the age of a tree cannot be established by counting its rings.

Arguing that tree rings are the most reliable record of past climate.

Describing how a tree produces new wood over the course of a year.

Passage: "Every year a tree adds a layer of new wood beneath its bark. In temperate climates that layer is not uniform: the wood formed in spring is pale and open, the wood formed later in the season is dark and dense, and the boundary between one year's dark wood and the next year's pale wood shows as a ring. Counting the rings therefore gives the age of the tree. Their widths give something more useful. A year of good growing conditions produces a wide ring, a year of drought a narrow one, and because all the trees in a region experience the same weather, the sequence of wide and narrow rings is shared across them. That shared pattern can be matched between a living tree and a dead one that overlaps with it in time, and then between that dead tree and an older one, extending the record backwards for thousands of years. The method has a limit that is easy to overlook. A ring records the conditions that constrained growth, and in a wet region growth may be constrained by temperature rather than by rainfall. A narrow ring is evidence that something was wrong, not evidence of what." What makes the boundary between two years visible as a ring?

Dark, dense wood formed late in one season sits against pale, open wood formed the following spring.

The bark thickens once a year and leaves a mark beneath it.

Growth stops completely in winter and leaves a gap in the wood.

Each year's layer is a slightly different color from the last.

Passage: "Every year a tree adds a layer of new wood beneath its bark. In temperate climates that layer is not uniform: the wood formed in spring is pale and open, the wood formed later in the season is dark and dense, and the boundary between one year's dark wood and the next year's pale wood shows as a ring. Counting the rings therefore gives the age of the tree. Their widths give something more useful. A year of good growing conditions produces a wide ring, a year of drought a narrow one, and because all the trees in a region experience the same weather, the sequence of wide and narrow rings is shared across them. That shared pattern can be matched between a living tree and a dead one that overlaps with it in time, and then between that dead tree and an older one, extending the record backwards for thousands of years. The method has a limit that is easy to overlook. A ring records the conditions that constrained growth, and in a wet region growth may be constrained by temperature rather than by rainfall. A narrow ring is evidence that something was wrong, not evidence of what." Why is the sequence of wide and narrow rings shared by different trees in one region?

They live through the same weather as each other.

They are compared only after being matched for size.

They are usually the same species as each other.

They are usually the same age as each other.

Passage: "Every year a tree adds a layer of new wood beneath its bark. In temperate climates that layer is not uniform: the wood formed in spring is pale and open, the wood formed later in the season is dark and dense, and the boundary between one year's dark wood and the next year's pale wood shows as a ring. Counting the rings therefore gives the age of the tree. Their widths give something more useful. A year of good growing conditions produces a wide ring, a year of drought a narrow one, and because all the trees in a region experience the same weather, the sequence of wide and narrow rings is shared across them. That shared pattern can be matched between a living tree and a dead one that overlaps with it in time, and then between that dead tree and an older one, extending the record backwards for thousands of years. The method has a limit that is easy to overlook. A ring records the conditions that constrained growth, and in a wet region growth may be constrained by temperature rather than by rainfall. A narrow ring is evidence that something was wrong, not evidence of what." How can the record reach further back than the lifetime of any tree now living?

Very old living trees are found and counted directly.

The width of the innermost ring is used to estimate the missing years.

Rings from different regions are combined into a single sequence.

A living tree's pattern is matched to an overlapping dead one, and that one to an older one again.

Passage: "Every year a tree adds a layer of new wood beneath its bark. In temperate climates that layer is not uniform: the wood formed in spring is pale and open, the wood formed later in the season is dark and dense, and the boundary between one year's dark wood and the next year's pale wood shows as a ring. Counting the rings therefore gives the age of the tree. Their widths give something more useful. A year of good growing conditions produces a wide ring, a year of drought a narrow one, and because all the trees in a region experience the same weather, the sequence of wide and narrow rings is shared across them. That shared pattern can be matched between a living tree and a dead one that overlaps with it in time, and then between that dead tree and an older one, extending the record backwards for thousands of years. The method has a limit that is easy to overlook. A ring records the conditions that constrained growth, and in a wet region growth may be constrained by temperature rather than by rainfall. A narrow ring is evidence that something was wrong, not evidence of what." Why does the passage end with the two sentences about a wet region and what a narrow ring is evidence of?

To recommend that rainfall records be used instead of rings.

To explain why narrow rings are more common than wide ones.

To qualify the method by pointing out that a ring records that growth was limited without identifying what limited it.

To show that the method does not work in wet regions.

Main idea, detail, inference, purpose, reference and vocabulary in context, on one short academic passage kept beside every question. Test your knowledge…10 questions • ZestlySample questions:• Passage: "Every year a tree adds a layer of new wood beneath its bark. In temperate climates that layer is not uniform: the wood formed in…• Passage: "Every year a tree adds a layer of new wood beneath its bark. In temperate climates that layer is not uniform: the wood formed in…• Passage: "Every year a tree adds a layer of new wood beneath its bark. In temperate climates that layer is not uniform: the wood formed in…• Passage: "Every year a tree adds a layer of new wood beneath its bark. In temperate climates that layer is not uniform: the wood formed in…• Passage: "Every year a tree adds a layer of new wood beneath its bark. In temperate climates that layer is not uniform: the wood formed in…• Passage: "Every year a tree adds a layer of new wood beneath its bark. In temperate climates that layer is not uniform: the wood formed in…• Passage: "Every year a tree adds a layer of new wood beneath its bark. In temperate climates that layer is not uniform: the wood formed in…• Passage: "Every year a tree adds a layer of new wood beneath its bark. In temperate climates that layer is not uniform: the wood formed in…Want to check what you know — or test someone else?Create your own quiz

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