Answer Choices
The greatest cooling during the Little Ice Age occurred hundreds of years after the temperature peaks of the Medieval Warm Period.
The sharp decline in temperature supports the hypothesis of an equatorial volcanic eruption in the Middle Ages.
Pyroclastic flows from volcanic eruptions continued for hundreds of years after the eruptions had ended.
Radiocarbon analysis is the best tool scientists have to determine the temperature variations after volcanic eruptions.
Explanation for Question 52 From the Reading Section on the Official Sat Practice Test 4
Question 52 says what statement is best supported by the data presented in the 2 figure. So let's go through these answer choices, 3 just one by one and see if we can support them based on what 4 the figure is telling us. So answer choice a says the greatest cooling during 5 the little ice age occurred hundreds of years after the temperature peaks of 6 the medieval warm period. So let's look here. 7 We have the medieval warm period, 8 the peaks here, and then we have the greatest cooling here. 9 So we can confirm this is about 1300. 10 This is about 1700. So that's a span of 400 years. 11 So we can confirm, answer choice a based on the information given 12 in the figure. If we look at answer choice B, 13 it says the sharp decline in temperature supports the hypothesis of an equatorial, 14 volcanic eruption in the middle ages. 15 So if we look here, it doesn't give us anything about the location of 16 the volcanic eruption or anything like that. 17 It's just showing us temperature variation across time. 18 So we wouldn't be able to accurately or definitively conclude answer 19 choice B merely based on what we're given here. 20 So if we look at answer choice C it says pyroclastic flows from volcanic 21 eruptions continued for hundreds of years after the eruptions that ended again, 22 we can't accurately and definitively conclude that based on a figure of temperature 23 variation by year. So C would be incorrect. 24 And then if you look at answer choice D much the same reason, 25 it says radiocarbon analysis is the best tool. 26 Scientists have to determine the temperature variations after volcanic eruptions, 27 we can't accurately or definitively conclude that based on a simple graph 28 of temperature variation over year. So answer choice a is correct. 29 We proved it on the figure and B, C and D are all incorrect 30 because you can't prove it based on solely the given information. 31 So answer choice a would be correct for question 52.