Question

(1) In the winter of 1980, Dr. Keith Farrow and Emily Lane, a professor and a graduate student at Hickory College, they began to discuss turning a parcel of land on the west side of campus into an arboretum. (2) This was around the time that the United States men’s ice hockey team shocked the world by winning the gold medal in the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid. (3) A grove of sycamore trees on the land was plagued with disease. (4) It was also in a state of serious neglect. (5) Few people held out much hope that any of the trees in the grove could be saved. (6) Dr. Farrow and Mrs. Lane, however, formed a committee devoted to doing just that and, to everyone’s surprise and delight, were awarded a grant from the EPA to save the grove and establish the arboretum. (7) In 1981, a fundraising drive was begun by the Hickory College Green Thumb Club to raise additional money for the project.
(8) Meanwhile, Dr. Farrow and Mrs. Lane began to use their grant money to try to salvage some of the sycamore trees. (9) Their efforts were fairly successful; only six trees could not be saved. (10) The Green Thumb Club then divided the land formerly occupied by the dead trees into small plots. (11) These plots were used for organic gardening. (12) By the summer of 1982, the newly named McCauley Arboretum was up and running. (13) Today it is one of Hickory College’s most beloved campus features.

Which of the following sentences does not belong in the first paragraph of the passage?


Sentence 3

Sentence 1

Sentence 2

Sentence 5

Sentence 4

Answer 1

The purpose of this paragraph is to discuss the development of the McCauley Arboretum. Those sentences that discuss the origins as well as the development of the arboretum are necessary to the passage.

Let's look at the first paragraph in further detail.

(1) In the winter of 1980, Dr. Keith Farrow and Emily Lane, a professor and a graduate student at Hickory College, they began to discuss turning a parcel of land on the west side of campus into an arboretum. 
-- This sentence is necessary to understanding the origins of the arboretum and should not be removed the paragraph.

(2) This was around the time that the United States men’s ice hockey team shocked the world by winning the gold medal in the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid.
-- This point, while certainly interesting, is not necessary to understanding either the origins or the development of the arboretum.

(3) A grove of sycamore trees on the land was plagued with disease.
 -- This sentence tells us about the parcel of land used for the arboretum.

(4) It was also in a state of serious neglect.
-- This sentence also provides further details about the land used for the arboretum.

(5) Few people held out much hope that any of the trees in the grove could be saved.
 -- This sentences indicates that many thought the land would not be good for anything.

(6) Dr. Farrow and Mrs. Lane, however, formed a committee devoted to doing just that and, to everyone’s surprise and delight, were awarded a grant from the EPA to save the grove and establish the arboretum.
 -- This sentence proves the importance of the previous two sentences. Although the land was in a state of neglect and many thought the trees could not be saved, Farrow and Lane were able to turn the land around.

(7) In 1981, a fundraising drive was begun by the Hickory College Green Thumb Club to raise additional money for the project.
-- This sentence provides further information about the project begun by Farrow and Lane.

Therefore, Sentence 2 is not necessary to the paragraph's main idea and should be removed.