Answer: "By contrast, the plantation had only one purpose: to create a single product that could be grown, ground, boiled, dried, and sold to distant markets."
Explanation:
<em>Sugar Changed the World </em>is a book written by Marc Aronson and Marina Budhos. In the book, they explore the history of sugar, particularly in slave trade.
In this excerpt, the author's claim is that plantation was considered as a revolutionary way of making sugar: the whole process from planting the seeds to drying and selling it was happening in one place. It was the first time in human history that the farms were organized in such a way. The correct answer is, therefore, the second option.