ShmoopTube

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Here’s an unshmoopy question you may find on the exam…

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Time to pause and review. No, not your sister’s diary. This passage, s’il vous plait.

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Which of the following pieces of evidence strongly supports the idea that plant patterning

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is caused by mechanical stress? And here are the potential answers…

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This problem is asking us to find some solid evidence to support the idea of mechanical

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stress causing patterning. Well, we could read the passage yet again…or,

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we can use our awesome deducing skills to figure out the answer by just looking at the

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choices.

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Yeah, the second option sounds a lot better. So how do we deduce the answer?

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Well, we’re looking for evidence. Evidence means that it’s something that we have observed.

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Option A is true, but it doesn’t provide us with how we have observed it, or how it

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affects patterning.

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Same with Option C. We know that auxin causes plants to grow, but it doesn’t provide evidence

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for mechanical stress causing patterning.

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Option B. Those adorable patterns on raccoons do not have anything to do with PLANT pattering.

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Unless raccoons are actually plants?

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No, those filthy critters are definitely animals. So that leaves us with D.

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“Scientists can injure a plant, and the plant patterning responds to this action by

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taking on a pattern dependent on the size of the injury.”

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Sounds like pretty solid evidence to us. Thorough, and it explains the effect of the observation

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on patterning. D is the best answer.

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There. That should help you hold on to a few more strands.

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