Volcanoes

Answer choices

1. A

   Too Specific3% picked this

   an eruption that produces less lava than either Krakatau or El

   While it's true that Krakatau and El Chicon are major eruptions, and so a minor eruption would produce less lava than those, it's a very specific idea to define "everything with less lava than these two volcanoes" as minor. By analogy, a poor person has less money than a rich person, such as Bill Gates or Elon Musk. But that doesn't mean we define "being poor" as "having less money than Bill Gates or Elon Musk".

   3%
2. B

   Too Specific15% picked this

   an eruption that has less of an effect on global temperature than either Krakatau or

   Just like (A), it's too weird to think that the designation of "minor" volcano is defined by some quantitative comparison to two specific volanoes. And again, like (A), it's certainly true that minor eruptions have less effect on global temp than these two volcanoes did. But that doesn't mean we're defining "minor" as "every single volcano with less effect than Krakatau or El Chichon". A major eruption might have only caused a 0.4º drop, whereas Krak and El Chich caused a 0.5º drop. Minor eruptions cause no drop.

   15%
3. C

   Major, not Minor4% picked this

   an eruption whose effect on regional temperature can be masked by conditions in the hemisphere

   A major eruption, which has effects on regional temperature, can be masked by conditions in the hemisphere such as El Niño. Minor eruptions, we are told, "have no discernible effect on temperature". You can't mask something that isn't there in the first place.

   4%
4. D

   Correct73% picked this

   an eruption that introduces a relatively small amount of debris into

   Why this is right

   This best matches our available supporting text, which told us: - minor eruptions have no discernible effect on temperature, whereas major ones cause up to 0.5º C of cooling - minor ones apparently don't qualify as "dust-spitting explosions" It also accords with our common sense, since the whole mechanism by which a volcano would affect global temperature is through spitting dust and debris into the atmosphere. Since we're told that minor eruptions don't affect the temperature, it makes sense to say they introduce relatively little debris into the atmosphere.

   Skill tested: Meaning in Context · how this choice captures the passage's function is the move to repeat next time.

   73%
5. E

   Too Specific5% picked this

   an eruption that causes average temperature in the hemisphere of the eruption to drop by less than

   This is somewhat tempting, because it seems to resemble the first part of our support text. - minor eruptions have no discernible effect on temperature, whereas major ones cause up to 0.5º C of cooling - minor ones apparently don't qualify as "dust-spitting explosions" But it's too specific to say that any eruption that's less than a 0.5º drop is therefore minor. After all, if an eruption caused a 0.4º drop, would the passage consider that a minor eruption? No, because minor eruptions have no discernible effect. But this answer choice would consider that a minor eruption.

   5%