Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 36 to 43.
The hard, rigid plates that form the outermost portion of the Earth are about 100 kilometers thick. These plates include both the Earth's crust and the upper mantle. The rocks of the crust are composed mostly of minerals with light elements, like aluminum and sodium, while the mantle contains some heavier elements, like iron and magnesium. Together, the crust and upper mantle that form the surface plates are called the lithosphere. This rigid layer floats on the denser material of the lower mantle the way a wooden raft floats on a pond. The plates are supported by a weak, plastic layer of the lower mantle called the asthenosphere. Also like a raft on a pond, the lithospheric plates are carried along by slow currents in this more fluid layer beneath them.
With an understanding of plate tectonics, geologists have put together a new history for the Earth's surface. About 200 million years ago, the plates at the Earth's surface formed a “supercontinent” called Pangaea. When this supercontinent started to tear apart because of plate movement, Pangaea first broke into two large continental masses with a newly formed sea that grew between the land areas as the depression filled with water. The southern one — which included the modern continents of South America, Africa, Australia, and Antarctica — is called Gondwanaland. The northern one — with North America, Europe, and Asia — is called Laurasia. North America tore away from Europe about 180 million years ago, forming the northern Atlantic Ocean. Some of the lithospheric plates carry ocean floor and others carry land masses or a combination of the two types. The movement of the lithospheric plates is responsible for earthquakes, volcanoes, and the Earth's largest mountain ranges. Current understanding of the interaction between different plates explains why these occur where they do. For example, the edge of the Pacific Ocean has been called the “Ring of Fire” because so many volcanic eruptions and earthquakes happen there. Before the 1960's, geologists could not explain why active volcanoes and strong earthquakes were concentrated in that region. The theory of plate tectonics gave them an answer.
The paragraph following the passage most probably discusses
A. why certain geological events happen where they do
B. how geological occurrences have changed over the years
C. the most unusual geological developments in the Earth's history
D. the latest innovations in geological measurement
Đáp án A
Giải thích: Ý lớn cuối cùng của đoạn cuối là Current understanding of the interaction between different plates explains why these occur where they do. = Sự hiểu biết hiện tại của sự tương tác giữa các mảng khác nhau giải thích tại sao những hiện tượng xảy ra nơi chúng xảy ra. Do đó đoạn tiếp theo có khả năng lướn là sẽ nói sâu hơn vào ý này.
Phương án A. why certain geological events happen where they do = tại sao một số sự kiện địa chất nhất định xảy ra ở nói chúng xảy ra, là phương án chính xác nhất.
B. how geological occurrences have changed over the years = các sự kiện địa chất đã thay đổi như thế nào trong những năm qua.
C. the most unusual geological developments in the Earth's history = sự phát triển địa chất bất thường nhất trong lịch sử Trái Đất
D. the latest innovations in geological measurement = những cải tiến mới nhất trong đo lường địa chất.