Question

trees are climate change, carbon storage heroes
by amy androff
1 j.r.r. tolkien, author of the lord of the rings, once wrote, \i longed to devise a setting in which the trees might really march to war.\
2 if climate change is a battle for earth’s survival, then trees will be a vital army holding the line. when tolkien imagined trees marching to war, he couldn’t have foreseen how relevant those words would one day be.
3 trees are a bastion against climate change.
4 they sequester carbon as they’re growing from the soil and store it when their lumber is used to build our homes.
5 to grow, a tree needs water, sunlight, minerals, and carbon dioxide. during photosynthesis, a tree converts these ingredients to sugars that feed the tree and fuel its growth. the carbon dioxide used by the tree is permanently stored in its fibers.
6 in one year, a mature live tree can absorb more than 48 pounds of carbon dioxide.
7 so, whether the tree is still growing or used to make a wood product, carbon is sequestered until the tree or wood experiences another physical event—like fire or decomposition—that releases its carbon.
8 but it’s hard to talk about how wood products store carbon without talking about how to assess the impact of a product’s carbon storage capacity versus the carbon cost of its fabrication.
9 in a 2019 journal article, \life cycle assessment of forest - based products: a review,\ forest products laboratory (fpl) researchers explain the use of an internationally accepted standard method called life cycle assessment (lca). it maps the life of a product holistically from birth to death, or cradle - to - grave, and analyzes how much environmental impact a product will have on the planet. lca compares how much carbon is stored versus how much was produced during a product’s manufacture.
4
select the correct answer.
read paragraphs 6 and 7.
6 in one year, a mature live tree can absorb more than 48 pounds of carbon dioxide.
7 so, whether the tree is still growing or used to make a wood product, carbon is sequestered until the tree or wood experiences another physical event—like fire or decomposition—that releases its carbon.
what is the meaning of the word sequestered as it is used in the excerpt?
○ a. abandoned
○ b. disguised
○ c. withdrawn
○ d. captured

Explanation:

To determine the meaning of "sequestered", we analyze the context. Paragraph 6 says a tree absorbs carbon dioxide, and paragraph 7 states carbon is sequestered until a physical event releases it. "Captured" fits as trees take in (capture) carbon and hold it until released. "Abandoned" (A) means left, "disguised" (B) means hidden in appearance, and "withdrawn" (C) implies removal, but "captured" (D) aligns with the tree absorbing and storing carbon.

Answer:

D. captured