Question

read the sentence from paragraph 6.

the secret to the survival of the prairie plants in such a hostile environment is that 75–80% of the prairie’s biomass, or plant material, is underground.

which word or phrase has the closest meaning to biomass as it is used in the passage?

a. organisms that feed on plants

b. matter that comes from living things

c. photosynthetic leaves gathering sunlight

d. rare and endangered ecosystem

Explanation:

To find the closest meaning to "biomass", we analyze the context. The sentence says "75 - 80% of the prairie’s biomass, or plant material, is underground". So "biomass" here refers to plant material, which is matter from living things (plants).

• Option A refers to herbivores, not plant material.
• Option C focuses on leaves gathering sunlight, not the general plant material.
• Option D refers to an ecosystem, not plant material.
• Option B ("matter that comes from living things") matches the idea of plant material (from living plants) as biomass.

Answer:

B. matter that comes from living things