Question

Difficulty: MediumInferential Comprehension and Deduction

Read the passage below carefully and determine whether the statement that follows is True or False based on logical deduction from the text.

Passage:
In the Mandara Mountains along the Nigeria-Cameroon border, the Sukur Cultural Landscape stands as a historic testament to indigenous soil conservation and water management. For centuries, Sukur farmers sculpted steep granite slopes into terraced fields, utilizing stone retaining walls to capture rainwater and prevent soil erosion during torrential seasonal downpours. However, recent economic shifts have drawn younger generations away from agricultural upkeep toward unregulated artisanal gold mining in nearby river valleys. While mining yields immediate cash returns, it leaves vast tracts of land pocked with pits and deprives the traditional terraces of their required annual maintenance. Consequently, heavy rains now frequently breach neglected stone embankments, washing away topsoil that took generations to accumulate. Regional developmental reports indicate that agricultural yields on unmaintained terraces have dropped by nearly forty percent over the past decade. Environmentalists warn that unless communal labor structures for terrace repair are revived, the region faces both an ecological crisis and the irreversible collapse of a heritage-based food system.

Statement:
The decline in terrace agricultural productivity in Sukur is indirectly caused by the shift of young laborers into artisanal mining.

Answer: Answer

Answer

True. The shift of young laborers into gold mining leads directly to terrace neglect, which causes soil erosion and ultimately reduces agricultural productivity.
The statement is correct (True) because the passage outlines an indirect causal sequence: young laborers shifting to gold mining results in the neglect of annual terrace maintenance, which allows heavy rains to breach embankments and erode topsoil, ultimately leading to a forty percent reduction in crop yields.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the cause-and-effect relationship described in the passage regarding youth labor reallocation.
The passage notes that younger generations left terrace agricultural upkeep to pursue artisanal gold mining in nearby river valleys.
This establishes the primary shift in workforce distribution away from traditional farming.
2
Trace the consequence of labor reallocation on the terrace infrastructure.
The movement of labor deprived traditional terraces of necessary annual maintenance, causing stone embankments to breach during heavy rains and topsoil to wash away.
This links workforce changes directly to structural degradation and topsoil loss.
3
Synthesize the impact of topsoil loss on crop productivity.
The erosion of topsoil led directly to a nearly forty percent drop in agricultural yields over the past decade.
Connecting the initial labor shift to the eventual drop in yields confirms that the productivity decline is an indirect consequence of the labor shift into mining.

Key Concept

Inferential Deduction of Cause-and-Effect Relationships in Text
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