“A Plains Childhood”
When I think of my family’s history on the land, I experience a pang of regret. Unlike much of the arid West, where
the land has gone virtually unchanged for centuries, my place of origin, western Kansas, has been torn up by agri-
culture. The flat plains, excellent soil, and sparse but just adequate rainfall permitted farming; therefore farming
prevailed, and a good 90% of the original sod prairie is gone. The consequence, in human terms, is that our rela-
tionship to our place has always felt primarily mercantile. We used the land and denied, or held at bay, its effect
on us. Yet from my earliest childhood, when most of the Kansas prairie was still intact, I’ve known that the land
also had a romantic quality. I’ve felt moved by the expanse of it, enthralled by its size. I take pride in my identity
as a plains daughter.
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P O S T T E S T
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34.
Which of the following is the most accurate
restatement of the author’s position?
a.
The presence of people has enriched the plains
habitat.
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