Question

The text in lines 10–12, "highway medians . . . looked like the seed-packet promises come true," provides support for which of the following excerpts from the essay? A "The spring of 1998 was the Halley’s Comet of desert wildflower years." (lines 1–2) B "Our mountains wore mantles of yellow brittlebrush on their rocky shoulders . . ." (lines 6–7) C "While nearly everyone else on the planet was cursing the soggy consequences of El Niño’s downpours . . ." (lines 2–3) D "Our desert hills and valleys were colorized in wild schemes of maroon, . . ." (lines 4–5)

Answer 1

Answer:

A "The spring of 1998 was the Halley’s Comet of desert wildflower years." (lines 1–2)

Explanation:

This is the excerpt from Barbara Kingsolver's scientific essey "Called Out". It describes events in the spring of 1998 and gives insight on magnificent and complex life cycle of desert plants.

The given sentence provides description of the highway medians suggesting that there were unusually many flowers, rarely seen before.

That provides evidence to answer A. which claims that that spring was the Halley's Comet of desert wildflower years. Halley's Comet is a rare phenomenon that happens only once every 76 years, so by making this comparison, the author claims that what happened that spring was a true botanical rarity.