Question

The light burners proposed to "control" the destructiveness of the deliberate firing by burning the woods in the spring or fall when sufficiently moist to prevent the fire from seriously injuring either old timber or young trees. A careful study of the area...shows that such control amounts to little or nothing. The light burners ignore...the rapidity with which...sunlight in warm weather dries up the litter in the pine woods. A south slope will be so dry as to make any fire exceedingly hot and destructive before a north slope will burn at all. Areas which will burn but lightly and irregularly early in the morning will flare up and consume in the most approved fashion by mid-afternoon. The moisture following light spring or fall rains often disappears so rapidly that the period of "safe" burning is a matter of hours, not of days. Actually to burn the western pineries, as the advocates of this theory propose to burn them, would, if it could be done at all, entail a cost for effective control many times greater than the cost of an efficient system of fire detection and suppression. –"‘Paiute Forestry’ or the Fallacy of Light Burning," William B. Greeley Answer the questions based on your reading of this magazine excerpt. What is the main issue with controlled burns? What changes too quickly to predict? Which word is a clue to how the writer feels? Why does the writer use quotation marks around the words "safe" and "control"?

Answer 1

Controlled burns are problematic due to the rapid changes in environmental moisture, making them unpredictable and costly to manage effectively. The writer's skepticism is shown by the use of quotation marks and the word 'approved'.

Step-by-step explanation:

The main issue with controlled burns is the unpredictability of environmental conditions that can rapidly change, such as moisture levels. These changes are too quick to predict, leading to increased difficulty and cost in effective control of the burns. The word 'approved' reveals the writer's skepticism towards the light burners' method, hinting at irony in the context of describing the unwanted intensity of the fires. Quotation marks around the words 'safe' and 'control' are used to indicate the writer's doubt about the effectiveness and reliability of the light burners' practices.