Native to Europe and Asia, cheatgrass is an invasive species of grass that is causing problems in North American fields. The plant quickly dominates fields that it has invaded and drives out other plants. This can cause, among other problems, severe damage to animal habitats and to scenic areas. Several solutions to the cheatgrass problem have been proposed by ecologists.
One option is to encourage animals such as cattle to feed on cheatgrass. Cattle and other livestock are known as grazers because they graze, or eat. small portions of grass or other plants throughout the day. If grazers were released in fields where cheatgrass is prevalent, the cheatgrass would be reduced That would create room for native species to reestablish themselves and flourish. This plan is appealing because cheatgrass is most prevalent in areas of North America where cattle and other livestock are raised.
Another option is to burn the cheatgrass off the fields with controlled fires. This plan has the advantage of eliminating vast amounts of cheatgrass in a short time Cheatgrass, it turns out? is a highly flammable plant: it burns much more easily than the native plant species that have been crowded out. Strategically set fires could bum away the cheatgrass where it has come to dominate, creating space so the newly cleared fields could be reseeded with native grasses and other plants.
Still another option is to introduce a fungal parasite that specifically attacks cheatgrass. In Europe and Asia, where cheatgrass is a native species, there is a species of fungus that has the ability to prevent cheatgrass from reproducing. Introducing this fungus in North American fields where cheatgrass has proliferated could slow the spread of cheatgrass, making it possible for native species to better compete against cheatgrass.
Cheatgrass is a species of grass which is native not Eurasia but has recently found its way to North Amerca. This species is harmful to the native plants and the text proposes three methods to prevent its growth while the professor casts doubt on the proposed solutions.
First of all, cattles and other grazers can be brought to the areas with cheatgrass. Grazers can wander around the fields where cheatgrass has grown, feed on them and consequntly reduce its volume. The lecturer challenges this solution and thinks it will be counterproductive. According to him, since grazers prefer local plants to cheatgrass, they will feed on native plants more than they would on cheatgrass. So, it will have the opposite effect.
Secondly, professor does not believe that controlled fires is a viable solution. The passage proposes controlled fires, justifying that fire can burn cheatgrass which is highly flammable. As a result, this will clear out enough space for other native plants to flourish. On the other hand, the professor argues that the fire will only eradicate the surface of the plant. The seeds to this plant is dug below the surface where it can germinate, resulting in its regrowth.
Finally, the text proposes the introduction of fungal parasites, which can hinder the growth of this plant. Where cheatgrass is native, this class of parasites prevents its regrowth. According to the lecturer, this method has little to no effect on this evasive plant. He argues that this parasite can only attack the weaker plants while the younger and stronger plants will still thrive, suggesting that it will not be efficient enough.
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Transition Words or Phrases used:
but, finally, first, if, second, secondly, so, still, while, as a result, first of all, on the other hand
Attributes: Values AverageValues Percentages(Values/AverageValues)% => Comments
Performance on Part of Speech:
To be verbs : 10.0 10.4613686534 96% => OK
Auxiliary verbs: 14.0 5.04856512141 277% => Less auxiliary verb wanted.
Conjunction : 6.0 7.30242825607 82% => OK
Relative clauses : 11.0 12.0772626932 91% => OK
Pronoun: 28.0 22.412803532 125% => Less pronouns wanted
Preposition: 29.0 30.3222958057 96% => OK
Nominalization: 3.0 5.01324503311 60% => More nominalizations (nouns with a suffix like: tion ment ence ance) wanted.
Performance on vocabulary words:
No of characters: 1373.0 1373.03311258 100% => OK
No of words: 269.0 270.72406181 99% => OK
Chars per words: 5.10408921933 5.08290768461 100% => OK
Fourth root words length: 4.0498419064 4.04702891845 100% => OK
Word Length SD: 2.59614263985 2.5805825403 101% => OK
Unique words: 142.0 145.348785872 98% => OK
Unique words percentage: 0.527881040892 0.540411800872 98% => OK
syllable_count: 396.0 419.366225166 94% => OK
avg_syllables_per_word: 1.5 1.55342163355 97% => OK
A sentence (or a clause, phrase) starts by:
Pronoun: 7.0 3.25607064018 215% => Less pronouns wanted as sentence beginning.
Article: 5.0 8.23620309051 61% => OK
Subordination: 2.0 1.25165562914 160% => OK
Conjunction: 0.0 1.51434878587 0% => OK
Preposition: 4.0 2.5761589404 155% => OK
Performance on sentences:
How many sentences: 16.0 13.0662251656 122% => OK
Sentence length: 16.0 21.2450331126 75% => The Avg. Sentence Length is relatively short.
Sentence length SD: 31.7389252339 49.2860985944 64% => OK
Chars per sentence: 85.8125 110.228320801 78% => OK
Words per sentence: 16.8125 21.698381199 77% => OK
Discourse Markers: 6.5625 7.06452816374 93% => OK
Paragraphs: 4.0 4.09492273731 98% => OK
Language errors: 0.0 4.19205298013 0% => OK
Sentences with positive sentiment : 6.0 4.33554083885 138% => OK
Sentences with negative sentiment : 4.0 4.45695364238 90% => OK
Sentences with neutral sentiment: 6.0 4.27373068433 140% => OK
What are sentences with positive/Negative/neutral sentiment?
Coherence and Cohesion:
Essay topic to essay body coherence: 0.258736608775 0.272083759551 95% => OK
Sentence topic coherence: 0.0892294672172 0.0996497079465 90% => OK
Sentence topic coherence SD: 0.0494608325092 0.0662205650399 75% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence: 0.164149480237 0.162205337803 101% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence SD: 0.0089233394762 0.0443174109184 20% => Paragraphs are similar to each other. Some content may get duplicated or it is not exactly right on the topic.
Essay readability:
automated_readability_index: 11.0 13.3589403974 82% => Automated_readability_index is low.
flesch_reading_ease: 63.7 53.8541721854 118% => OK
smog_index: 3.1 5.55761589404 56% => Smog_index is low.
flesch_kincaid_grade: 8.4 11.0289183223 76% => OK
coleman_liau_index: 12.0 12.2367328918 98% => OK
dale_chall_readability_score: 8.48 8.42419426049 101% => OK
difficult_words: 69.0 63.6247240618 108% => OK
linsear_write_formula: 7.5 10.7273730684 70% => OK
gunning_fog: 8.4 10.498013245 80% => OK
text_standard: 8.0 11.2008830022 71% => OK
What are above readability scores?
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Rates: 70.0 out of 100
Scores by essay e-grader: 21.0 Out of 30
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Note: the e-grader does NOT examine the meaning of words and ideas. VIP users will receive further evaluations by advanced module of e-grader and human graders.