Passage Going Solar in China
Going Solar in China
In the Anhui province of China, 166,000 floating solar panels are strung together atop the rippling surface of a lake. It is the largest solar-power farm in the world, an immense blanket of renewable energy strong enough to power 15,000 homes.
The floating solar-power farm, which harvests the sun’s rays for power, was first conceived by the Sungrow Power Supply Company after heavy rains flooded a collapsed coal mine and created a lake. Sang Dajie, a former coal miner from the area, is now an electrician for the farm, which occupies the original mine site where he used to work. Now, instead of working under the dangerous conditions at the mine, he spends his days maintaining the solar panels on the water. “The coal mine,” says Dajie, “was very hot and the air was bad. . . . But here I feel safe. The new energy is safe.” People in China rely primarily on the burning of coal in massive power plants to create electricity. While the burning of fossil fuels, like coal, is a reliable source of energy, the process releases massive amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, creating air pollution and harming Earth. Solar power, on the other hand, is clean and safe for the environment.
Solar panels are typically placed on rooftops or in open fields, but experts in China determined that the newly formed lake was a great spot for the solar-power farm. Solar-power farms over water are efficient because the water keeps the panels cool. A water-based solar-power farm can potentially generate more power than one based on land. Additionally, with the solar-power farm on the lake, the land in the surrounding area remains available for farming, which is another source of income for Anhui residents.
Originally, China displayed minimal interest in solar energy. The use of solar energy was limited primarily to rural areas that had no access to a power grid. Without access to other means of electricity, people in these areas used solar panels as an alternative to lighting candles and kerosene lamps. China began to manufacture solar panels for other countries in the late 1990s when the German government offered its people financial incentives for installing solar panels. The heightened demand for solar panels was instantaneous, and Chinese businesses were quick to seize the opportunity. Soon the governments of Spain and Italy also offered incentives for using solar technology, and Chinese manufacturers were ready for the increased demand.
Between 2008 and 2013, China improved its manufacturing technology and processes so much that it effectively lowered the worldwide cost of using solar energy by 80 percent, further increasing demand. However, a point came when Chinese manufacturers had become so efficient at producing solar-power equipment that they outpaced the demand. The manufacturers were producing two solar panels for every one solar panel they sold. In order to make manufacturing a profitable industry again, the Chinese government offered its own financial incentives to Chinese citizens for using solar energy. Now, projects like the floating solar-power farm are putting those surplus panels to use, in addition to providing jobs and cleaner energy.
A second solar-power farm has already been constructed near the massive one in Anhui as part of a government initiative to build more low-emission power plants. The goal is to meet 20 percent of the country’s energy needs with renewable, clean energy sources by the year 2030.
As Sang Dajie puts it, “I’m glad we are reusing this area to create a better future.” China’s dedication to increasing its production of renewable energy through solar power demonstrates that patience, time, and flexibility can result in transformation.
Question
Which statement best describes how the chronological structure of paragraphs 4–5 contributes to the development of ideas in the article?
- AIt reveals how China’s businesses lowered the cost of solar energy over time for other countries.
- BIt depicts how China’s government helped the Chinese solar-energy industry respond to growth in the international demand for solar energy.
- CIt reveals how China’s position on using solar energy changed because of a surplus supply of solar panels.
- DIt depicts how China’s solar-energy industry improved the manufacturing of solar panels in order to increase revenue.
Show the answer
Correct answer: C
The question asks for an explanation of how the structure of paragraphs 4–5 contributes to the development of ideas.
A. Incorrect. While paragraph 5 does explain that the cost of solar panels declined as manufacturers increased production to meet demand, the chronological structure does not specifically detail how the businesses lowered the cost of solar energy over time.
B. Incorrect. While paragraph 5 states that “In order to make manufacturing a profitable industry again, the Chinese government offered its own financial incentives to Chinese citizens for using solar energy,” this occurred only after there was a surplus of solar panels in China. Overall, the article does not explain or detail any role the Chinese government played in responding to the international demand discussed at the end of paragraph 4.
C. CORRECT. The author uses a chronological structure to show how Chinese businesses responded to the growing demand for solar power after first being uninterested in it. The author goes on to explain how the Chinese government took an interest in solar power and began promoting it to help Chinese businesses. This shows a change over time in the Chinese approach to solar power.
D. Incorrect. Although the paragraphs do suggest that the manufacturers improved their efficiency to meet demand, the chronological structure does not specifically show how the manufacturers changed and improved their processes.
Question analysis
This text-structure question asks how the chronological order of paragraphs 4–5 in “Going Solar in China” develops the article’s ideas. The paragraphs move through rural solar use, sales to European countries, a period of cheaper manufacturing and new government incentives. Each choice names something that really happens in them, so students must decide which change the time order is built to show.
- Grade level
- Grade 8 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- Above grade 7 Grade 7 students analyze how a structure organizes a text, but here two dense paragraphs of economic history must be traced cause by cause, and the choices differ on who acted and why, which goes beyond typical grade 7 work.
- Estimated difficulty
- Hard: combines ideas, needs a plan, and has more than one tempting wrong answer.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 3, strategic thinking · mainly analyze
- What makes it hard
- Much to keep track of moderate
- The right answer is reworded moderate
- How, not what minor
- Evidence
- Answered from several paragraphs or stanzas
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 13, 598 words; question and choices: about grade 14, 90 words.
- Corrected from the DOE handbook
- A statement in the explanation that the article contradicts was corrected.
- Students, last 30 days
- Not enough answers yet to show (it takes 10).
Why it is hard, traps and wrong answers (shows the answer)
Why it is hard
Each wrong choice names something that really happens in paragraphs 4–5: costs fall, the government steps in, manufacturing improves. What the time order shows is a turn in China’s own stance, from little interest in using solar power to paying its citizens to use it once factories made two panels for every one sold. The strongest pull runs two stages together, giving the government a part in answering European demand that the article gives only to businesses.
Much to keep track of moderate Working it out
Four actors pass through paragraphs 4–5, Chinese businesses, three European governments, Chinese manufacturers and the Chinese government, and students must keep track of who acted, in which order and for what reason. (Sweller, 1988; Carpenter, Just & Shell, 1990)
The right answer is reworded moderate Choosing the answer
The right choice sums up “minimal interest” early in paragraph 4 and the government’s incentives late in paragraph 5 as a changed “position,” while wrong choices repeat “lowered the … cost,” “improved” manufacturing and “demand.” (Freedle & Kostin, 1993; Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990)
How, not what minor Working it out
The stem names the structure and asks what it does, so students must say what the time order traces from the late 1990s to the surplus, not retell the events it contains. (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001)
Strategy: List the events of paragraphs 4–5 in order, noting who acts at each step and why, then choose the description whose actors, order and causes all match your list.
Traps
- Too narrow: A single detail offered as the central idea or a summary, or a summary that keeps minor details and leaves out an essential part.
- Twists what the text says: Uses the text's topic and ideas but changes what it says: who did it, how much, when, or why.
- Reads too much in: A reasonable-sounding conclusion that goes further than the text allows.
The wrong answers, classified
A Too narrow (King et al., 2004)
Fixes on the 80 percent drop in the worldwide cost of using solar energy, one result reported in paragraph 5, rather than the change the whole sequence traces.
B Twists what the text says (King et al., 2004)
Credits the government with helping industry meet foreign demand, though businesses answered Germany, Spain and Italy on their own and the government acted only later, when panels went unsold.
D Reads too much in (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994)
Reads a revenue motive into the improvements of 2008 to 2013, though the passage gives none and says they cut costs until factories made more panels than they sold.
What was corrected from the DOE handbook, and why
- Explanation: The handbook rejects Option B by saying that “the article does not explain or detail the Chinese government’s role in the solar-energy industry, specifically the government’s response to the international demand discussed at the end of paragraph 4.” The article does describe the government’s role: paragraph 5 says it offered financial incentives to Chinese citizens for using solar energy (the explanation quotes that sentence just before), and paragraph 6 describes a government initiative to build more low-emission power plants. What the article never describes is any government response to the international demand in paragraph 4. The site now says “the article does not explain or detail any role the Chinese government played in responding to the international demand discussed at the end of paragraph 4.” The answer, C, is unchanged.
Working it out, step by step
Work out what is asked
This asks about chronological structure. That means telling events in time order, from first to last. You need to see what that order shows across paragraphs 4 and 5. So list the events, and note who acts in each one.
List the events in order
- At first, “China displayed minimal interest in solar energy.” Minimal means very little.
- Late 1990s: Germany offers its people incentives, rewards like money, for installing panels. Chinese businesses start making panels for other countries.
- Spain and Italy do the same, and Chinese makers keep up.
- 2008 to 2013: China gets much better at making panels, and solar energy gets cheaper.
- Makers produce two panels for every one they sell. A surplus is an amount left over.
- The Chinese government pays its own citizens to use solar energy.
See what changed
Compare the first event with the last one. At the start, China cared little about using solar power at home. By the end, its government was offering rewards to get people to use it. What caused the turn? Too many unsold panels. The government stepped in “to make manufacturing a profitable industry again.”
Check each choice
- A does not fit. Lower costs are one event in the list, not what the whole order shows.
- B does not fit. Businesses met the demand from Europe on their own. The government acted only later, after the surplus, and it aimed at buyers at home.
- C fits. China moved from little interest to backing solar power, because of the surplus.
- D does not fit. The article never says why makers improved. In fact, they ended up making more than they could sell.
Give the answer
Watch out: B is tempting because the government does play a part, and paragraph 6 shows another plan of its own. But the article never says it helped businesses answer the demand from other countries. So the answer is C.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
B is the closest wrong choice because it mixes two steps of the story. Demand from Germany, Spain and Italy came first, and businesses answered it. The government entered later, when panels piled up unsold. C follows the real order: a surplus led China to change its stand on using solar power.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
The passage “Going Solar in China” as printed (page 174)
