Also in 2025 Practice Test A English, question 52.
Passage The Benefits of Indoor Plants
The Benefits of Indoor Plants
(1) In an age of endless media content, it is easy to see why people might prefer to stay inside. (2) According to a study sponsored by the Environmental Protection Agency, Americans spend an average of 87 percent of their time indoors. (3) Scientists say that this separation between people and nature puts people at risk for physical and psychological issues.
(4) During the process of photosynthesis, plants convert carbon dioxide into oxygen and remove many harmful toxins from the air. (5) Spending prolonged periods of time indoors, away from plants, deprives people of these benefits. (6) Air that is not regularly detoxified can lead to a condition known as sick building syndrome. (7) This disorder first came to light in the 1970s when many office workers in the United States began to complain of unexplained flu-like symptoms. (8) Researchers determined the cause to be volatile organic compounds, or VOCs. (9) VOCs are harmful chemicals that are emitted by everyday objects such as carpet, furniture, cleaning products, and computers. (10) The NASA Clean Air Study found a simple way to remove a significant number of VOCs within a 24-hour period: add plants to indoor spaces.
(11) Adding plants to indoor spaces has psychological benefits too. (12) Research has long linked time spent in natural environments with increased energy and feelings of contentment. (13) While being outdoors is an excellent option for improving a person’s mental health, recent research has indicated that encountering natural elements while indoors can also help. (14) To experience the maximum benefit of natural elements, experts suggest placing at least one live plant per 100 square feet of home or office space.
(15) Connecting with nature, even just by being near an indoor plant, is a significant factor in a person’s well-being. (16) Sitting in front of an electronic screen all day isn’t natural, and today’s workers need to get up and get outdoors. (17) Richard Ryan, a psychology professor at the University of Rochester, puts it this way: “Nature is something within which we flourish, so having it be more a part of our lives is critical, especially when we live and work in built environments.”
Question
Which sentence presents ideas irrelevant to the topic of the passage and should be deleted?
- Asentence 11
- Bsentence 14
- Csentence 15
- Dsentence 16
Show the answer
Correct answer: D
The question asks for the sentence that presents ideas irrelevant to the topic of the passage and should be deleted.
A. Incorrect. Sentence 11 presents one of the key reasons why plants are so important in indoor spaces: they have a positive effect on mental health. The idea that plants provide psychological benefits is relevant to the topic of the passage, and the sentence should not be deleted.
B. Incorrect. Sentence 14 is relevant to the topic because it explains how many plants a person should add to a space in order to experience “the maximum benefit of natural elements.” This idea addresses the main topic of the passage, and the sentence should not be deleted.
C. Incorrect. Although “connecting with nature” is somewhat broader than the topic of the passage, sentence 15 is relevant and belongs in the passage because it specifically refers to using indoor plants as one way to connect with nature (“even just by being near an indoor plant”). Therefore, the sentence should not be deleted.
D. CORRECT. While the topic of the passage is the harm caused by the “separation between people and nature” (sentence 3), the reference in sentence 16 to “an electronic screen” is irrelevant to the topic of the passage. The idea that “today’s workers need to get up and get outdoors” (sentence 16) is, in fact, the opposite of what the passage argues, and the sentence should be deleted.
Question analysis
Which sentence in the last two paragraphs of the indoor-plants passage presents ideas irrelevant to its topic and should be deleted? Each of the four listed sentences mentions nature, plants or well-being in some way, so students must pin down exactly what the passage argues before deciding which one does not serve it.
- NYS standards
- 7W2b developing a topic
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Spotting a sentence that strays from a passage's topic is regular grade 7 revision work. The passage is short and plainly worded, and its topic is named in its title, so this is a typical grade 7 demand.
- Estimated difficulty
- Straightforward: two steps or one careful reading.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 2, skills and concepts · mainly analyze
- What makes it hard
- How sentences fit together moderate
- Every choice must be checked minor
- Evidence
- Answered from the whole text
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 12, 346 words; question and choices: about grade 6, 19 words.
- 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
The stray sentence is camouflaged by its links to the opening: screens recall the media of sentence 1, and “isn't natural” sounds like the passage's theme. What gives it away is its advice, to leave the building, when the passage argues for bringing nature into it, along with its chatty tone. Students who cut a sentence for being general or practical have judged by style rather than by the passage's claim.
How sentences fit together moderate Working it out
Sentence 16 echoes sentence 1's “endless media content” with its “electronic screen,” so it seems connected, yet its call to “get outdoors” pulls against a passage about bringing plants inside. (Halliday & Hasan, 1976)
Every choice must be checked minor Choosing the answer
The four listed sentences span paragraphs 3 and 4, and each mentions nature, plants or well-being, so each must be read in place and tested against the passage's point. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987)
Strategy: Say in one phrase what the whole passage argues, then read each listed sentence in place and ask whether it supports that argument or steers the reader toward a different idea.
Traps
- Fixes what isn't broken: Changes a part of the sentence that was already correct, while the real error stays; or, where the question asks which sentence has an error or should go, picks one that is correct and belongs.
The wrong answers, classified
A Fixes what isn't broken (Connors & Lunsford, 1988)
Cuts sentence 11 because it turns from air quality to the mind, though it is the topic sentence of the paragraph on psychological benefits.
B Fixes what isn't broken (Connors & Lunsford, 1988)
Sees the advice of one live plant per 100 square feet as a practical aside, though it tells readers how to get the benefit the passage describes.
C Fixes what isn't broken (Connors & Lunsford, 1988)
Thinks sentence 15's “connecting with nature” strays beyond indoor plants, missing that “even just by being near an indoor plant” ties it directly to the passage's topic.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
You need to find the sentence that is off topic. Every sentence in a passage should support its main point. For example, in a paragraph about why dogs make good pets, My cousin has a red bike doesn’t belong. You would cut a sentence like that.
Name the passage’s topic
The title is “The Benefits of Indoor Plants.” The passage says plants inside clean the air and help the mind. Its fix for too much time indoors is to bring nature inside, with plants in homes and offices.
Read sentence 16 in place
Sentence 16 says, “Sitting in front of an electronic screen all day isn’t natural, and today’s workers need to get up and get outdoors.” It switches to screens. It tells workers to go outside. It never mentions plants. The passage doesn’t object to going outdoors. Sentence 13 even calls it “an excellent option.” But sentence 16 steers away from the topic, plants indoors, to a different fix.
Check each choice
- A is wrong. Sentence 11 is the third paragraph’s topic sentence: plants indoors help the mind.
- B is wrong. Sentence 14 tells how many plants to use, one per 100 square feet. That helps readers get the benefit.
- C is wrong. “Connecting with nature” sounds broad. But it adds “even just by being near an indoor plant,” which ties it to the topic.
- D is right. Sentence 16 is about screens and going outside, not indoor plants.
Watch out: Sentence 15 is tempting because it starts with a big idea. Read the whole sentence before you cut it.
Choose the answer
Without sentence 16, sentence 15 leads straight into the professor’s words about nature in our lives. Nothing is lost. So the answer is D, sentence 16.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
Sentence 15 is the closest wrong answer, because “connecting with nature” sounds wider than the topic. But it names an indoor plant, so it supports the passage. Sentence 16 names no plant at all. It sends workers outdoors, a different idea from bringing nature inside.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
The passage “The Benefits of Indoor Plants” as printed (page 60)
