Reading Comprehension

PT106 · S4 · P2 · Q6 Volcanoes

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Long after the lava has cooled, the effects of a major volcanic eruption may linger on.

Topic

The lingering climate effects of major volcanic eruptions and how they influence global and regional temperatures.

Framework

Present Debate

Main Point

While volcanic eruptions are thought to cool Earth's climate, recent research suggests the cooling effect is smaller and more complicated than previously believed, with global impacts being minor but potential for larger regional effects due to feedback loops. (The “most valuable sentence” encapsulating the main point appears in P3: )

P1: Common Belief about Volcanic Eruptions

After a big volcano erupts, the dust and acid it throws into the air can cool the planet by blocking sunlight—some even blame Tambora’s 1815 eruption for an entire summer without warm weather in 1816.

P2: New Findings Challenge Conventional Wisdom

Scientists Mass and Portman say this connection isn’t quite as strong as we think. By analyzing global temperatures around nine eruptions—while accounting for El Niño’s effects—they find the supposed volcanic cooling can be tricky to pin down.

P3: Refining the Evidence—What Eruptions Really Do

Once they filtered out El Niño, they saw that smaller eruptions don’t noticeably affect temperatures, and even huge eruptions only slightly cool the hemisphere—much less than earlier studies had claimed.

Which one of the following most accurately expresses the main idea of the passage?

The effect of volcanic eruptions
Opposite: greater than previously thought
The updated understanding is that "minor eruptions have no discernible effect on temperature. And major explosions cause a smaller drop than expected."
3% picked this
The effect of volcanic eruptions
Wrong Emphasis / Opposite
This comparison sounds like it's way too narrow, even if it's true. But it also doesn't seem true. The final paragraph makes it seem like "while an eruption may only have a small effect on global temps, it can still result in a significant regional fluctuation."
2% picked this
The effect of volcanic eruptions
Opposite: greater than previously thought
The updated understanding is that "minor eruptions have no discernible effect on temperature. And major explosions cause a smaller drop than expected."
3% picked this
Correct
Volcanic eruptions appear not to
Why this is right
This packages together the two New ideas. From paragraphs 2 and 3, we got the idea that once we account for the effects of El Niño, we see that "minor eruptions have no discernible effect on temperature. And major explosions cause a smaller drop than expected." That is a contrast with the Old idea from paragraph 1, where we thought that eruptions had major effects on global temperature. From the first sentence of paragraph 4 (and also from the rest of paragraph 4), we get the idea that "eruptions might still have a big effect on regional temperature".
Skill tested: Main Point · how this choice captures the passage's function is the move to repeat next time.
85% picked this
Researchers tended to overestimate the
Opposite: exaggerated
This answer would be good if we flipped "exaggerated" into "ignored". The reason the Old belief was overestimated is that scientists were not taking into account the effect of El Niño, which is a cyclical weather phenomenon.
6% picked this

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