Answer Choices
Yes, because it adds a relevant research finding from a government agency.
Yes, because it supports the passage’s argument that organic food is less nutritious than conventionally grown food.
No, because it is not relevant to the paragraph’s discussion of scientific evidence.
No, because it introduces a term that has not been defined in the passage.
Explanation for Question 18 From the Writing Section on the Official Sat Practice Test 4
Not for number 18 right here. 2 We're considering adding a sentence that says the USDA reports that organic 3 agricultural products are now available in 20,000 markets. 4 So basically here, we're talking about the availability or where you can buy organic, 5 uh, products. But if we look at our sentence here, 6 the sentence before is telling us about scientific research saying that organic crops are 7 not necessarily more nutritious than conventional crops. 8 Then afterwards we see another study, 9 right? Um, again, telling us that organic, 10 uh, foods and non-organic foods don't have very much nutritional value 11 differences. So our paragraph seems to be about nutrition, 12 but the sentence is about where you buy it, 13 right? And those two topics collide. 14 They're not on the same page. And so that's best encapsulated here by 15 answer choice C right? It's not relevant. 16 The sentence is not relevant because it doesn't tell us about nutritional content, 17 right? 18 And we were also serving science and this doesn't tell us any type of 19 science, um, you know, paper or research. 20 And so a what's wrong with a is that it's not relevant. 21 It is a research finding, but it's not relevant because it's not telling us 22 about nutrition. Now what's wrong with B, 23 um, is that it says organic food is less nutritious and that's not true. 24 That's not the argument that we're making here. Um, 25 the argument we're actually making is that there's not a huge difference between their 26 nutritional value and also the sentence. 27 Again, doesn't tell us at all about nutrition. 28 So B couldn't possibly be an answer. And finally, 29 D it introduces a term that has not been defined. 30 Um, I'm unsure about what that term would be in this case, 31 because all of these, you know, organic we've seen, 32 um, natural foods. Maybe there's not really a term that hasn't been defined in 33 that sentence. So that leaves us with C.