SAT OwlQuestion bank / Central Ideas and Details
Some public libraries now lend seeds as well as books. At a seed library, a gardener can take home packets of tomato, bean, or squash seeds at no cost. In return, borrowers are asked to let a few of their healthiest plants go to seed at the end of the season and bring some of those seeds back. Over time, librarians say, the collection fills with varieties that have grown well in local soil and weather.
According to the text, what are borrowers asked to do in return for the seeds?
Return seeds collected from some of the plants they grew
Pay a small fee to the library at the end of the growing season
Donate part of their vegetable harvest to the library
Grow only varieties that the librarians have selected
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A
The third sentence says borrowers are asked to let some of their healthiest plants go to seed and "bring some of those seeds back." That is choice A.
Choice C sounds like a fair trade, but the text asks borrowers to return seeds, not vegetables.
Why the other choices are wrong
- B. The seeds are available "at no cost," and the text never mentions a fee.
- C. Borrowers bring back seeds, not vegetables. Sharing the harvest is never mentioned.
- D. The text puts no limits on what borrowers grow. The local varieties build up because of the seeds borrowers return.
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