Question

use the information about tonewood trees and your knowledge of science to answer the questions.
tonewood trees
the norway spruce (picea abies) is a tree that grows throughout eastern and northern europe. for hundreds of years, violin makers have made violins using the wood from norway spruce trees. wood that allows a violin to produce beautiful sounds has good resonance (deep, rich, full sound). wood with good resonance has certain characteristics, such as a very high density that results from slow growth. this type of wood is called tonewood.
the amount a tree grows each year varies with seasons as well as environmental conditions, such as precipitation and temperature. the amount a tree grows each year is determined by looking at the rings that are visible on a cross section of the tree. the space between two dark rings represents one year of growth. figure 1 shows the typical growth pattern for norway spruce trees.
figure 1. growth pattern for
a typical norway spruce
which statement best explains the results shown in table 1?
a trees from site 1 grow more rapidly than trees from site 2 because there are more hours of sunlight at site 1 than at site 2.
b trees from site 1 grow less rapidly than trees from site 2 because the trees have slower rates of cellular respiration at site 1 than at site 2.
c trees from site 1 grow less rapidly than trees from site 2 because the trees produce more oxygen at site 1 than at site 2.
d trees from site 2 grow more rapidly than trees from site 1 because there is less water available for trees at site 2 than at site

Explanation:

To solve this, we analyze each option:

• Option A: More sunlight (hours) would likely increase photosynthesis, promoting faster growth. If site 1 has more sunlight, trees there grow faster, which aligns with tree growth factors (light for photosynthesis).
• Option B: Slower cellular respiration would mean less energy use, but growth rate relates more to photosynthesis (energy production) than respiration (energy use) for growth speed.
• Option C: Oxygen production (photosynthesis) depends on light, CO₂, etc. Faster growth (site 1) would imply more oxygen, not less.
• Option D: Less water at site 2 would slow growth there, but the question is why site 1 grows faster—less water at site 2 doesn’t explain site 1’s faster growth.

So A is the best explanation.

Answer:

A. Trees from site 1 grow more rapidly than trees from site 2 because there are more hours of sunlight at site 1 than at site 2.