Text 1
Historians have traditionally maintained that the introduction of the potato to Europe from South America in the sixteenth century was the single most important catalyst for the continent's rapid population growth. Because potatoes yielded far more calories per acre than traditional grains, their cultivation directly reduced the frequency of famines. This agricultural shift allowed rural communities to sustain much larger families and ultimately transformed the demographic landscape of Europe.
Text 2
While the potato certainly improved food security in sixteenth-century Europe, recent demographic analyses suggest that its role in the population boom has been exaggerated. Researchers argue that other concurrent factors played equally significant roles. For instance, a gradual warming trend in the regional climate improved overall crop yields, and a decline in plague outbreaks reduced mortality, indicating that Europe's population rise was not driven by a single crop.
Based on the passages, how would the author of Text 2 most likely characterize the claim in Text 1 that the potato was the 'single most important catalyst' for Europe's population growth?
- It is partially accurate because the potato did improve food security, but it overemphasizes the crop's influence by ignoring other factors that helped the population grow.Cevap
- BIt is completely correct because the potato was the only factor that allowed rural families to grow larger during the sixteenth century.
- CIt is unsupported because the potato was introduced to Europe much later than the sixteenth century.
- DIt is incorrect because a warming climate made it impossible for sixteenth-century Europeans to cultivate traditional grains.