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Those who fear that introduced earthworms are degrading Midwestern
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25 Aug 2026, 23:11
25 Aug 2026, 23:11
Expert Reply
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Question Stats:
50% (01:30) correct
50% (02:13) wrong based on 6 sessions
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Those who fear that introduced earthworms are degrading Midwestern hardwood forests have, according to a growing number of ecologists, fundamentally misread the scale of the threat: the danger these invaders pose to native biodiversity is frequently (i) _______. Long-term monitoring in sugar maple stands, for instance, has shown worm density to be largely (ii) ______ native understory diversity, with flourishing plant communities persisting even in heavily invaded plots.
| Blank (i) | Blank (ii) |
|---|---|
| A. misconstrued | D. correlated with |
| B. negligible | E. exacerbated by |
| C. unpredictable | F. independent of |
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Re: Those who fear that introduced earthworms are degrading Midwestern
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31 Aug 2026, 20:16
31 Aug 2026, 20:16
Expert Reply
Explanation
Blank (i): B. negligible
The key phrase is “misread the scale of the threat”. The ecologists think the danger is much smaller than people assume.
negligible = so small as to be unimportant
misconstrued = misunderstood - doesn’t fit grammatically: “the danger ... is misconstrued” would mean the danger itself is misunderstood, not that its scale is misread.
unpredictable = not supported by the evidence
Blank (ii): F. independent of
The sentence says worm density can be high while native understory diversity remains healthy:
“flourishing plant communities persisting even in heavily invaded plots”
That indicates plant diversity does not depend on / correlate strongly with worm density.
independent of = unaffected by / not dependent on
correlated with = changes together with
exacerbated by = made worse by
Answer: B,F
Blank (i): B. negligible
The key phrase is “misread the scale of the threat”. The ecologists think the danger is much smaller than people assume.
negligible = so small as to be unimportant
misconstrued = misunderstood - doesn’t fit grammatically: “the danger ... is misconstrued” would mean the danger itself is misunderstood, not that its scale is misread.
unpredictable = not supported by the evidence
Blank (ii): F. independent of
The sentence says worm density can be high while native understory diversity remains healthy:
“flourishing plant communities persisting even in heavily invaded plots”
That indicates plant diversity does not depend on / correlate strongly with worm density.
independent of = unaffected by / not dependent on
correlated with = changes together with
exacerbated by = made worse by
Answer: B,F
gmatclubot
Re: Those who fear that introduced earthworms are degrading Midwestern [#permalink]
31 Aug 2026, 20:16
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