2016SHSAT_English

ReadingQUESTIONS 21-50DIRECTIONS: Read each passage below and answer the questions following it. Base your answerson information contained only in the passage. You may reread a passage if you need to. Mark thebest answer for each question.5101520253035The eruption of the Philippine volcanoMount Pinatubo in June 1991 sent a hugecloud of gas and dust encircling the globe.The dust and ash from Mount Pinatubo wasblamed for a two-year decrease in globaltemperature, changes in weather patterns,and damage to the ozone layer. The situationbrings to mind a meteorological eventthat occurred 175 years earlier. At thattime, harsh weather conditions plaguedmuch of eastern North America, and, to alesser extent, northern Europe.April 1816 brought typical spring weatherto upstate New York and New England;trees budded and farmers prepared to plowand plant. In May, however, the expectedwarm temperatures failed to arrive. Mostpeople remained optimistic, waiting forthe summer that was “just around the corner.”They waited in vain. June usheredin what modern meteorologists call “TheYear Without a Summer.” During the firstweek of June, ten inches of snow fell onNew England. Throughout the month, temperaturesrarely rose above the 30s. Manyfarmers replanted crops several times,only to see them stunted or destroyed bysleet, hail, and icy winds. July and Augustbrought little improvement. During mostdays the temperature stayed in the 40s.Farmers’ diaries document their dailystruggles with near-freezing temperatures,failing crops, and dying farm animals. Thefew crops that managed to survive werekilled by frost in mid-September. Wintercame early in New England and was unusuallysevere. Even the South was affected; onJuly 4, the high temperature for Savannah,Georgia, was only 46 degrees!510152025303540455055606570Some religious leaders warned their congregationsthat the unusual weather meantthat the end of the world was drawing near.Other leaders attributed the cool weatherto unusual sunspot activity. The proliferationof the newly invented lightning rod wasalso blamed. Some people believed thatlightning rods had interrupted the naturaltemperature balance of the earth, causingthe cooler temperatures.It was not until October that the first plausibleexplanation for “The Year Without aSummer” was suggested. A German astronomer,Friedrich Bessel, reported seeing thickclouds of dust in the upper atmosphere. Hetheorized that these dust particles screenedportions of the earth from the warmingrays of the sun. It was discovered that, inApril 1815, Mount Tambora, an Indonesianvolcano, had erupted with such force thatit had sent an estimated 100 cubic miles offine dust into the atmosphere. Witnesses tothe eruption reported that the sky remaineddark for two days. The dust then rose highinto the stratosphere, where it encircled theworld for several years to come.Skeptics in 1816 doubted that a far-awayvolcano could steal their summer. However,most present-day researchers believeBessel’s explanation to be generally correct,demonstrating the global nature of weather.The dust in the atmosphere eventuallysettled, and the spring of 1817 was back tonormal.40455055606570FORM B78CONTINUE ON TO THE NEXT PAGE 1