According to the passage, why do the stone walls help the plants?
Long before modern machinery, farmers in the Andes learned to farm slopes that look far too steep for crops. They cut the hillside into a staircase of flat platforms held up by stone walls, and filled each platform with fertile soil. These terraces slow the run-off of rain, so the water soaks in instead of washing the soil downhill. The stone walls also store the heat of the day and release it at night, which protects plants from the cold of high altitude. Because each level sits at a slightly different height, farmers can grow different crops within a single hillside. Many terraces still produce food today, which shows how well the design suits the mountains.
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: A. They hold the daytime heat and give it back at night
- Step 1: Find the sentence about the stone walls: they store the heat of the day.
- Step 2: It adds that they release it at night, which protects plants from the cold.
Answer
They hold the daytime heat and give it back at night.
Why not the others: Walls slow the run-off instead of stopping rain, and the levels differ in height on purpose.
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