In the following passage, some words have been deleted. Read the passage carefully and select the most appropriate option to fill in each blank. Global warming is a major problem. The result will be the problems created by the rising temperatures of the Arctic region. As a result of global warming, (1)_________ in rainfall and plant distribution affect the migration patterns, feeding behaviour, and breeding preferences of numerous bird species. The increase in the temperature may also alter ocean currents, which may alter the (2)__________ ecology as a whole. Greenhouse gas emissions are responsible for the ongoing melting of the Arctic. This will result in a (3)__________loop since greenhouse gases trap the heat in the atmosphere and the additional emissions may (4)__________ the global warming process. Now, the only way to reverse the harm is for every person to be environmentally sensitive. This may offer us hope that we will be able to leave a green planet to our future generations, who presently appear to face (5)__________.
Select the most appropriate option to fill in blank number 2.
- (a)grassland
- (b)biosphere
- (c)landscape
- (d)marine
Answer
Why
Correct — D. The clause is about the sea: 'The increase in the temperature may also alter ocean currents, which may alter the ___ ecology as a whole.'
which points back to ocean currents, so the ecology being altered is the ocean's, and the slot before 'ecology' wants the adjective for the sea.
That adjective is marine — marine ecology, marine life, marine biology → option (d).
Why the others are wrong
- (a)grassland — Grassland names a land habitat, and nothing in the clause about ocean currents points to one.
- (b)biosphere — Biosphere covers every zone where life exists, land included, so it is far wider than the ocean currents the relative pronoun refers back to.
- (c)landscape — Landscape means land scenery, which is the wrong element in a clause driven by ocean currents.
Concept
A vocabulary blank inside a relative clause is anchored by its antecedent. Find what 'which' refers to and the field of meaning is settled before you read the options.
Here 'which' refers to ocean currents, so the word in front of 'ecology' has to be the sea word.
Marine is the standard modifier for that idea in English, which is why marine ecology and marine biology are the settled forms. Landscape ecology is a real field too, but it studies patterns across land, not what ocean currents alter.
Ocean currents move heat and nutrients around the globe, which is why altering them is described as altering marine ecology as a whole. You do not need that science to answer, only the antecedent.
Key facts
- Marine means of the sea, and is the usual modifier in marine ecology and marine biology.
- A relative pronoun takes its meaning from its antecedent, here ocean currents.
- The biosphere is the whole life-supporting zone of the Earth, not the ocean alone.
Study next
Common traps
- Picking biosphere because it sounds the most scientific of the four words.
- Filling the blank from the passage topic of global warming instead of from the clause's own antecedent.
Cloze blanks settled by collocation also come up on 25 Sep 2024, 16:00, English Q.24, where the verb chosen for the pledges made at Glasgow is 'honour' rather than take, watch or keep.
Anchor a blank to the clause it sits in, not to the theme of the paragraph.
Related PYQs
No directly related past PYQ was found.