In contrast, populations grown for many ______ under the pampered conditions of agriculture tend to lose these traits.
- (a)eras
- (b)epochs
- (c)periods
- (d)generations
Correct — D, generations. Cultivated plants and animals are bred and propagated over successive 'generations', so 'grown for many generations under the pampered conditions of agriculture' is the idiomatic and biologically correct phrase — the effects of breeding accumulate generation by generation. 'Eras', 'epochs' and 'periods' denote long historical or geological stretches of time, not the reproductive cycles over which a cultivated population changes.
- (a)eras — An 'era' is a long, distinct stretch of history — far too broad, and not the unit over which breeding reshapes populations.
- (b)epochs — An 'epoch' is a division of geological time — a mismatched scale and register for crop or livestock breeding.
- (c)periods — 'Periods' is a vague span of time and lacks the reproductive-cycle sense that 'generations' carries here.
Cloze / word-choice item: cultivated populations change over reproductive 'generations' — the precise term — versus the vague or geological time-words eras/epochs/periods.
No directly related past PYQ was found.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Fill in the blank: This trait has been passed down through many ______ of the family.
- (a)periods
- (b)generations
- (c)eras
- (d)ages
Answer(b) generations — inherited traits pass down over successive generations.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Choose the correct word: Selective breeding over several ______ produced the modern dairy cow.
- (a)generations
- (b)epochs
- (c)eras
- (d)decades
Answer(a) generations — breeding change accumulates generation by generation.