Question

Speak the words “ice age,” and the mind turns to Cro-Magnon mammoth hunters on windswept European plains devoid of trees. But the Little Ice Age (approximately A.D. 1300–1850) was far from a deep freeze. Think instead of an irregular seesaw of rapid climatic shifts, driven by complex and still little understood interactions between the atmosphere and the ocean. The seesaw brought cycles of intensely cold winters and easterly winds, then switched abruptly to years of heavy spring and early summer rains, mild winters, and frequent Atlantic storms, or to periods of droughts, light northeasterly winds, and summer heat waves that baked growing corn fields under a shimmering haze. The Little Ice Age was an endless zigzag of climatic shifts, few lasting more than a quarter century. Today’s prolonged warming is an anomaly.

The main idea of the first paragraph is that the Little Ice Age:
Question 5 options:

was a period defined by prolonged global cooling.


occurred during the era of Cro-Magnon mammoth hunters.


was marked by frequent and short-term climate shifts.


resulted from interactions between the atmosphere and ocean.

Answer 1

The main idea of this paragraph is the third option , "was marked by frequent and short-term climate shifts.". There is textual evidence to support his idea along the paragraph. For example where it says: cycles of intensely cold winters and easterly winds, then switched abruptly to years of heavy spring and early summer rains. There is also evidence in the following quote " Little Ice Age was an endless zigzag of climatic shifts, few lasting more than a quarter century." here the author is telling us that the changes took place rapidly, and the processes were fast changing.

Option 1 is not correct because throughout the text there is no example of any prolonged cooling period. On the contrary, there is evidence of abrupt temperature changes.

Option 2 in not correct either because even though the Cro-Magnon period is mentioned, it only refers to our supposed imaginary image of the "Ice Age". it is used to show opposition to what the text really is describing later on.

Option 4 is mentioned at some point in the passage, mainly in the introduction, but "The interactions between the atmosphere and the ocean" is not what the text is about. In consequence, it is not a correct answer either. It explains the possible origins of these interactions . The examples provided along the paragraph describe the changes in temperatures and their frequency, not the causes. So this option would also be wrong.