My dual mandate is to help my APUSH and SAT students and subscribers prepare for their upcoming exams. Today’s post will be devoted to using APUSH and SAT examples to define and illustrate the key word DEARTH.
APUSH
Tobacco is a labor-intensive crop. Tidewater planters in Virginia initially used imported indentured servants from England to fill their need for an inexpensive labor force. However, during the late 1600s a steadily dwindling number of workers willing to immigrate to Virginia confronted the planters with a serious labor shortage. Faced with a growing DEARTH or scarcity of field workers, Virginia planters made the fateful decision to begin importing enslaved Africans.
SAT
The Blood Chemistry Cluster has used DEARTH as an answer for vocabulary in context questions. For example, there are numerous studies of the effects of high altitude on blood chemistry. In contrast, there is a DEARTH or shortage of studies of the effect on blood chemistry of living in locations below sea level.
SAT test writers are now using the Blood Chemistry questions as a model for a new set of vocabulary in context questions on ocean and inland water. It turns out that there is an abundant supply of studies of ocean water. However, there is a surprising DEARTH or shortage of studies on inland water. Who knew!
DEARTH – a shortage or scarcity of something