Reading Comprehension

According to the passage,

Directions:  Read the passage and answer the question based on the contents of the passage.
Passage2
Each generation sees the Industrial Revolution from a different standpoint. Indeed, it has so many aspects, its manifestations at different times and in different places have varied so much that by the judicious selection of facts it is easy to represent it in very conflicting ways.
Modern historians have shown how slow was the coming of the machine and the factory, and have stressed the fact that the so-called revolution in the eighteenth century was almost confined to cotton and iron; that the date of an invention and its effective use in industry are two very different things; that in 1830 the great majority of workers were still outside the factory system; that some of the evils of transition “and notably the misfortunes of the hand-loom weavers“ were increased because the new methods took so long to establish themselves. By tracking back origins on one hand, and by correcting false notions of the great rapidity of the change on the other, they have corrected the over-insistence on those critical  years, so dear to text-books, between 1760 and 1830. But there is no doubt at all that the time did seem epoch-making to those who lived in it, and in fact was epoch-making.
One might suppose the term revolution as applied to industrial change would have been suggested by the French Revolution. And so it was. Blanqui, the French economist, is said to have been the first to speak of the tindustrial revolution in the early nineteenth century, to show that he thought economic change in England as revolutionary as political change in  France: France had had a political revolution, England an economic one. The idea was developed by Marx, but the term did not come in to general use till Toynbee used it in lectures given in 1881, which were published as The Industrial Revolution of the Eighteenth Century in England.

The writer had not visualized the possibilities of steam, but these had particularly captured the imagination of his contemporaries. When Boswell, that prince of interviewers, visited Soho in 1776, where Boulton and Watt were constructing their steam-engines, Boulton, whom he calls the iron chieftain, said to him ‘I sell here what all the world desires, power.’ Insd 1784 the first balloon ascent was made in England, when Lunardi, secretary to the Neapolitan ambassador, was, as he says, ‘the first aerial traveler in the English atmosphere’. He went up, amidst immense excitement, with a cat as passenger, from the Artillery Garden (close to Bedlam, as sceptics  pointed out), landed the cat which had suffered from the cold – at Ware in Hertfordshire. Men’s minds began to dwell on the possibilities of steam and aerial navigation. Erasmus Darwin, in 1792,  described, with unpoetic precision, the actual achievements of steam.

The giant-Power from earth’s remotest caves lifts with strong arm her dark reluctant waves. Here high in air the rising stream he pours To clay built cisterns, or to lead-line towers: Fresh thro’a thousand pipes the wave distils, And thirsty cities drink the exuberant rills. There the vast mill-stone with inebriate whirl on trembling floors his forceful fingers twirl, Feast without blood! And nourish human-kind.

It may be as well to explain that these lines refer to the pumping of water from coal-mines for drainage and from rivers for the purposes of water-supply – this last was done in London from the Thames. Then comes an evident allusion to the Albion mills built in London by Watt in 1786, with the help of Rennie. Fifty pairs of mill-stones were set in motion by two  engines. It created a sensation and it became the fashion to visit it – to Watt’s annoyance: ‘What have Dukes, Lords and Ladies to do with masquerading in a flour mill?’ he wrote to Boulton. Darwin then went on to prophesy:

Soon shall thy arm, UNCONQUER’D STEAM ! afar Drag the slow barge, or drive the rapid car; Or on wide-waving wings expanded bear The flying-chariot through the fields of air. Fair crews triumphant, leaning from above, Shall wave their fluttering kerchiefs as they move; Or warrior-bands alarm the gaping crowd, And armies shrink beneath the shadowy cloud.

We know how cotton and iron enabled England to resist Napoleon and subsidize her allies. But what is often forgotten is the marvelous way in which the growth of industry and trade mitigated disaster during the American War (1775-83) and was the basis of the wonderful recovery which the country made during the ten years’ peace which ollowed. As a modern historian has said,

According to the passage,

Directions:  Read the passage and answer the question based on the contents of the passage.
Passage 4
The  best  graduates  of  Saint-Cyr  were  given  the choice  of  their  first  appointment.  Charles  de Gaulle had also won that right, and he now faced the question: where should he begin his service? Traditionally, the most prestigious service was cavalry, and last on this scale, as everywhere, was long-suffering infantry. However strange that may seem at first glance, our junior lieutenant chose precisely  the  thankless  lot  of  an  infantryman.  Moreover,  he  decided  to  serve  in  that  very  33rd Infantry Regiment at Arras where he had gone through his service in the ranks. Charles de Gaulle would  always surprise everyone  by his  unexpected decisions,  but this  one  was  not  as  rash  as  it might  seem.  Picturesque cavalry  inevitably  lost its  former  glory  in  the epoch  of  mass  use  of machine-guns  while artillery was  regarded  as  a  kind of  auxiliary service  in  France;  but infantry remained  the  main  striking  force called  upon  to perform  those  really  great  deeds  of  which  de Gaulle dreamed. True, there were also the particularly fashionable Navy and aviation, which was then coming in to being. But these services required highly specialized training.

Finally, Charles de Gaulle knew, of course, that the newly appointed commander of 33rd  Infantry was Philippe Petain, well known in the army not only for his obstreperousness and frictions with his superiors, which adversely affected  his career, but also for his critical attitude to the official military doctrine. Petain was extremely conservative. Ignoring the new law segregating the church from  the  state,  he  openly  encouraged officers  to  attend  Mass  regularly.  In  any  case  he  had  the reputation  of  an  intelligent,  energetic,  and  exacting  officer  who  could be a  good  teacher  of  the military craft.

The  moment  came  when  the  raw  young  officer,  his  fresh  epaulets  glittering,  reported  to  his colonel.  The  22-year-old  junior  lieutenant,  black  eyed,  very tall,  stood  for  the  first time  face  to face with the 56-year-old  colonel ironically looking at him with his pale blue eyes. De Gaulle’s destiny would for a long time be linked with Petain…

The Young officer who would serve for many years under Colonel (later Marshall) Petain would feel great respect for his patron. It is interesting that even after Petain’s disgrace at the end, when he became France’s traitor, de Gaulle would retain something of that feeling. He would write in his memoir : “My first  colonel, Petain, showed me the meaning of the gift and art of command.”

The analogy of “frying an egg” has been mentioned to

Directions:  Read the passage and answer the question based on the contents of the passage.
Passage 3
A number of effective methods for generating new ideas are based on the use of analogies. One of the major difficulties in generating new ideas is to get going. The advantage of an analogy is that it has a life of its own. For instance, in the analogy of going fishing the process is so well known that one moves from one step to another without difficulty: finding time, choosing a stretch of water, perhaps getting a license, preparing the rod and tackle, choosing a position by the water, selecting bait,  changing  bait,  moving  about,  patience,  catching  something,  or  the  fish  that  got  away, fisherman’s stories, and so on.

In using  the analogy  method,  one  translates  the  problem  situation  in  to  an  analogy  and  then develops the analogy in its own right. From time to time, one translates back to the real problem to see  what  would  happen  if  the  process  taking  place  in  the analogy  took  place  in  the  problem situation.  For  instance,  the  fishing  analogy  might  have  been used  in  considering  a  management recruitment  problem.  “Stretch  of  water”  would  now  read  area  of  exploration,  perhaps  campus, perhaps  business  college,  perhaps  other  corporations.  “Bait” would  now  read  salary,  fringe benefits, stock options, promotion prospects, status, responsibility, location, or others.

mouth, and  the  like.  One would  then  come  to  the  point  when  no  fish?  Perhaps  those  waters  were overfished, perhaps the bait was unsuitable, perhaps the weather conditions were not right, perhaps it was a matter of too little patience. One might then consider whether the object of the fishing was sport, the odd chance of getting something really worthwhile, or the need to have some fish to eat. If it was the last, one might consider buying fish from a professional fish catcher, buying frozen fish from a store and spending extra time cooking it, or even changing the menu so that frozen fish fitted in (fresh salmon might dominate a menu but fish fingers would not). Translated back in to the problem situation, this would all mean that if changing the incentives and the search area were unsuccessful,  then  one  ought to  have more patience, or  employ professional search agencies, or decide to spend more time on executive training on the job, or even tailor the job in such a way that exceptional executive talent was no longer required.

Analogies serve as vehicles for processes, functions, relationships, and it is these which are being transferred to the original problem and tried out to see if they fit or what ideas they set off. The natural  development  of  an analogy is quite unrelated  to  the actual problem and  so  it provides a source of discontinuity. The problem is forced (or encouraged) to develop along a line different from its natural development.

The use of an analogy to get a problem moving is quite a different thing from arguing by analogy. No  matter  how  good  the  fit,  the  development  of  an  analogy  can  prove  nothing  about  the development of the problem situation. As usual in lateral thinking, the way one arrives at a new idea can never by itself justify that idea. The idea must stand in its own right.

The Press and the magazines heralded the new machines and processes as

Directions:  Read the passage and answer the question based on the contents of the passage.
Passage2
Each generation sees the Industrial Revolution from a different standpoint. Indeed, it has so many aspects, its manifestations at different times and in different places have varied so much that by the judicious selection of facts it is easy to represent it in very conflicting ways.
Modern historians have shown how slow was the coming of the machine and the factory, and have stressed the fact that the so-called revolution in the eighteenth century was almost confined to cotton and iron; that the date of an invention and its effective use in industry are two very different things; that in 1830 the great majority of workers were still outside the factory system; that some of the evils of transition “and notably the misfortunes of the hand-loom weavers“ were increased because the new methods took so long to establish themselves. By tracking back origins on one hand, and by correcting false notions of the great rapidity of the change on the other, they have corrected the over-insistence on those critical  years, so dear to text-books, between 1760 and 1830. But there is no doubt at all that the time did seem epoch-making to those who lived in it, and in fact was epoch-making.
One might suppose the term revolution as applied to industrial change would have been suggested by the French Revolution. And so it was. Blanqui, the French economist, is said to have been the first to speak of the tindustrial revolution in the early nineteenth century, to show that he thought economic change in England as revolutionary as political change in  France: France had had a political revolution, England an economic one. The idea was developed by Marx, but the term did not come in to general use till Toynbee used it in lectures given in 1881, which were published as The Industrial Revolution of the Eighteenth Century in England.

The writer had not visualized the possibilities of steam, but these had particularly captured the imagination of his contemporaries. When Boswell, that prince of interviewers, visited Soho in 1776, where Boulton and Watt were constructing their steam-engines, Boulton, whom he calls the iron chieftain, said to him ‘I sell here what all the world desires, power.’ Insd 1784 the first balloon ascent was made in England, when Lunardi, secretary to the Neapolitan ambassador, was, as he says, ‘the first aerial traveler in the English atmosphere’. He went up, amidst immense excitement, with a cat as passenger, from the Artillery Garden (close to Bedlam, as sceptics  pointed out), landed the cat which had suffered from the cold – at Ware in Hertfordshire. Men’s minds began to dwell on the possibilities of steam and aerial navigation. Erasmus Darwin, in 1792,  described, with unpoetic precision, the actual achievements of steam.

The giant-Power from earth’s remotest caves lifts with strong arm her dark reluctant waves. Here high in air the rising stream he pours To clay built cisterns, or to lead-line towers: Fresh thro’a thousand pipes the wave distils, And thirsty cities drink the exuberant rills. There the vast mill-stone with inebriate whirl on trembling floors his forceful fingers twirl, Feast without blood! And nourish human-kind.

It may be as well to explain that these lines refer to the pumping of water from coal-mines for drainage and from rivers for the purposes of water-supply – this last was done in London from the Thames. Then comes an evident allusion to the Albion mills built in London by Watt in 1786, with the help of Rennie. Fifty pairs of mill-stones were set in motion by two  engines. It created a sensation and it became the fashion to visit it – to Watt’s annoyance: ‘What have Dukes, Lords and Ladies to do with masquerading in a flour mill?’ he wrote to Boulton. Darwin then went on to prophesy:

Soon shall thy arm, UNCONQUER’D STEAM ! afar Drag the slow barge, or drive the rapid car; Or on wide-waving wings expanded bear The flying-chariot through the fields of air. Fair crews triumphant, leaning from above, Shall wave their fluttering kerchiefs as they move; Or warrior-bands alarm the gaping crowd, And armies shrink beneath the shadowy cloud.

We know how cotton and iron enabled England to resist Napoleon and subsidize her allies. But what is often forgotten is the marvelous way in which the growth of industry and trade mitigated disaster during the American War (1775-83) and was the basis of the wonderful recovery which the country made during the ten years’ peace which ollowed. As a modern historian has said,

According to the author, the main reason why an analogy may work better to solve a problem is

Directions:  Read the passage and answer the question based on the contents of the passage.
Passage 3
A number of effective methods for generating new ideas are based on the use of analogies. One of the major difficulties in generating new ideas is to get going. The advantage of an analogy is that it has a life of its own. For instance, in the analogy of going fishing the process is so well known that one moves from one step to another without difficulty: finding time, choosing a stretch of water, perhaps getting a license, preparing the rod and tackle, choosing a position by the water, selecting bait,  changing  bait,  moving  about,  patience,  catching  something,  or  the  fish  that  got  away, fisherman’s stories, and so on.

In using  the analogy  method,  one  translates  the  problem  situation  in  to  an  analogy  and  then develops the analogy in its own right. From time to time, one translates back to the real problem to see  what  would  happen  if  the  process  taking  place  in  the analogy  took  place  in  the  problem situation.  For  instance,  the  fishing  analogy  might  have  been used  in  considering  a  management recruitment  problem.  “Stretch  of  water”  would  now  read  area  of  exploration,  perhaps  campus, perhaps  business  college,  perhaps  other  corporations.  “Bait” would  now  read  salary,  fringe benefits, stock options, promotion prospects, status, responsibility, location, or others.

mouth, and  the  like.  One would  then  come  to  the  point  when  no  fish?  Perhaps  those  waters  were overfished, perhaps the bait was unsuitable, perhaps the weather conditions were not right, perhaps it was a matter of too little patience. One might then consider whether the object of the fishing was sport, the odd chance of getting something really worthwhile, or the need to have some fish to eat. If it was the last, one might consider buying fish from a professional fish catcher, buying frozen fish from a store and spending extra time cooking it, or even changing the menu so that frozen fish fitted in (fresh salmon might dominate a menu but fish fingers would not). Translated back in to the problem situation, this would all mean that if changing the incentives and the search area were unsuccessful,  then  one  ought to  have more patience, or  employ professional search agencies, or decide to spend more time on executive training on the job, or even tailor the job in such a way that exceptional executive talent was no longer required.

Analogies serve as vehicles for processes, functions, relationships, and it is these which are being transferred to the original problem and tried out to see if they fit or what ideas they set off. The natural  development  of  an analogy is quite unrelated  to  the actual problem and  so  it provides a source of discontinuity. The problem is forced (or encouraged) to develop along a line different from its natural development.

The use of an analogy to get a problem moving is quite a different thing from arguing by analogy. No  matter  how  good  the  fit,  the  development  of  an  analogy  can  prove  nothing  about  the development of the problem situation. As usual in lateral thinking, the way one arrives at a new idea can never by itself justify that idea. The idea must stand in its own right.

According to the passage,

Directions:  Read the passage and answer the question based on the contents of the passage.
Passage 3
A number of effective methods for generating new ideas are based on the use of analogies. One of the major difficulties in generating new ideas is to get going. The advantage of an analogy is that it has a life of its own. For instance, in the analogy of going fishing the process is so well known that one moves from one step to another without difficulty: finding time, choosing a stretch of water, perhaps getting a license, preparing the rod and tackle, choosing a position by the water, selecting bait,  changing  bait,  moving  about,  patience,  catching  something,  or  the  fish  that  got  away, fisherman’s stories, and so on.

In using  the analogy  method,  one  translates  the  problem  situation  in  to  an  analogy  and  then develops the analogy in its own right. From time to time, one translates back to the real problem to see  what  would  happen  if  the  process  taking  place  in  the analogy  took  place  in  the  problem situation.  For  instance,  the  fishing  analogy  might  have  been used  in  considering  a  management recruitment  problem.  “Stretch  of  water”  would  now  read  area  of  exploration,  perhaps  campus, perhaps  business  college,  perhaps  other  corporations.  “Bait” would  now  read  salary,  fringe benefits, stock options, promotion prospects, status, responsibility, location, or others.

mouth, and  the  like.  One would  then  come  to  the  point  when  no  fish?  Perhaps  those  waters  were overfished, perhaps the bait was unsuitable, perhaps the weather conditions were not right, perhaps it was a matter of too little patience. One might then consider whether the object of the fishing was sport, the odd chance of getting something really worthwhile, or the need to have some fish to eat. If it was the last, one might consider buying fish from a professional fish catcher, buying frozen fish from a store and spending extra time cooking it, or even changing the menu so that frozen fish fitted in (fresh salmon might dominate a menu but fish fingers would not). Translated back in to the problem situation, this would all mean that if changing the incentives and the search area were unsuccessful,  then  one  ought to  have more patience, or  employ professional search agencies, or decide to spend more time on executive training on the job, or even tailor the job in such a way that exceptional executive talent was no longer required.

Analogies serve as vehicles for processes, functions, relationships, and it is these which are being transferred to the original problem and tried out to see if they fit or what ideas they set off. The natural  development  of  an analogy is quite unrelated  to  the actual problem and  so  it provides a source of discontinuity. The problem is forced (or encouraged) to develop along a line different from its natural development.

The use of an analogy to get a problem moving is quite a different thing from arguing by analogy. No  matter  how  good  the  fit,  the  development  of  an  analogy  can  prove  nothing  about  the development of the problem situation. As usual in lateral thinking, the way one arrives at a new idea can never by itself justify that idea. The idea must stand in its own right.

“The army remained a state within a state”. By this the author implies that

Directions:  Read the passage and answer the question based on the contents of the passage.
Passage 4
The  best  graduates  of  Saint-Cyr  were  given  the choice  of  their  first  appointment.  Charles  de Gaulle had also won that right, and he now faced the question: where should he begin his service? Traditionally, the most prestigious service was cavalry, and last on this scale, as everywhere, was long-suffering infantry. However strange that may seem at first glance, our junior lieutenant chose precisely  the  thankless  lot  of  an  infantryman.  Moreover,  he  decided  to  serve  in  that  very  33rd Infantry Regiment at Arras where he had gone through his service in the ranks. Charles de Gaulle would  always surprise everyone  by his  unexpected decisions,  but this  one  was  not  as  rash  as  it might  seem.  Picturesque cavalry  inevitably  lost its  former  glory  in  the epoch  of  mass  use  of machine-guns  while artillery was  regarded  as  a  kind of  auxiliary service  in  France;  but infantry remained  the  main  striking  force called  upon  to perform  those  really  great  deeds  of  which  de Gaulle dreamed. True, there were also the particularly fashionable Navy and aviation, which was then coming in to being. But these services required highly specialized training.

Finally, Charles de Gaulle knew, of course, that the newly appointed commander of 33rd  Infantry was Philippe Petain, well known in the army not only for his obstreperousness and frictions with his superiors, which adversely affected  his career, but also for his critical attitude to the official military doctrine. Petain was extremely conservative. Ignoring the new law segregating the church from  the  state,  he  openly  encouraged officers  to  attend  Mass  regularly.  In  any  case  he  had  the reputation  of  an  intelligent,  energetic,  and  exacting  officer  who  could be a  good  teacher  of  the military craft.

The  moment  came  when  the  raw  young  officer,  his  fresh  epaulets  glittering,  reported  to  his colonel.  The  22-year-old  junior  lieutenant,  black  eyed,  very tall,  stood  for  the  first time  face  to face with the 56-year-old  colonel ironically looking at him with his pale blue eyes. De Gaulle’s destiny would for a long time be linked with Petain…

The Young officer who would serve for many years under Colonel (later Marshall) Petain would feel great respect for his patron. It is interesting that even after Petain’s disgrace at the end, when he became France’s traitor, de Gaulle would retain something of that feeling. He would write in his memoir : “My first  colonel, Petain, showed me the meaning of the gift and art of command.”

Who won the Nobel Prize in 2004?

Directions: Read the following passage and answer the question that follows.

In 1991, Buck and Axel were the first to identify the genes that encode the odorant (smell) receptors in the brain. Receptors can be thought of as the specialised "doors" or "entryways" into brain cells that give particular substances, like the chemicals that make up odors, access to the inner workings of olfactory brain cells. That discovery sparked a renaissance of research into the sense of smell, and Buck and Axel won the Nobel Prize for their work in 2004. 

Which of the following is the reason for the release of greenhouse gases?

Directions: Read the folllowing passage and answer the question that follows.

The botched reconstruction of the South led to

Directions: Read the following passage and answer the question that follows.

As America remembers the events at Ford's Theater 150 years ago tonight, many are wondering how things might have been different had John Wilkes Booth missed his shot, or if President Lincoln had just stayed home instead of following his wife Mary's wishes for a night of entertainment.
Would Lincoln have been a successful second-term president? Would the reconstruction of the South been handled better with a strong and powerful leader such as Lincoln in charge? Would western cities like Denver or Phoenix have become home to free slaves and perhaps a new, more powerful black middle class? Or would Lincoln have become like Winston Churchill, a war hero who was later tossed out by voters when Great Britain's economy turned sour?
In the short term, historians say Lincoln would have better managed the immediate aftermath of the Civil War, a time when Confederate leaders were pardoned and remained in power, while slaves were free in name only. The botched Reconstruction of the South led to a century of bad feelings, racial tension and a region that lagged behind the rest of the United States in both economy and education.

Which word in the passage means the same as 'edge'?

Directions: Read the following passage and answer the question that follows.

Humanity is on the verge of discovering alien life, high-ranking NASA scientists say.
"I think we're going to have strong indications of life beyond Earth within a decade, and I think we're going to have definitive evidence within 20 to 30 years," NASA chief scientist Ellen Stofan said Tuesday (April 7) during a panel discussion that focused on the space agency's efforts to search for habitable worlds and alien life.
"We know where to look. We know how to look," Stofan added during the event, which was webcast live. "In most cases we have the technology, and we're on a path to implementing it. And so I think we're definitely on the road."

According to Elon Musk, Bill Gates and Stephen Hawking, what could be humanity’s biggest essential threat?

Directions: Read the following passage and answer the question that follows.

From smartphone apps like Siri to features like facial recognition of photos, artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming a part of everyday life. But humanity should take more care in developing AI than with other technologies, experts say.
Science and tech heavyweights Elon Musk, Bill Gates and Stephen Hawking have warned that intelligent machines could be one of humanity’s biggest essential threats. But throughout history, human inventions, such as fire, have also posed dangers. Why should people treat AI any differently? 
"With fire, it was OK that we screwed up a bunch of times," Max Tegmark, a physicist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said April 10 on the radio show Science Friday. But in developing artificial intelligence as with nuclear weapons, "we really want to get it right the first time, because it might be the only chance we have," he said.

What is the name of the famous sandstone rock-shelter site in Croatia?

Directions: Read the passage and answer the question that follows.

The talons were first excavated more than 100 years ago at a famous sandstone rock-shelter site called Krapina in Croatia. There, archaeologists found more than 900 Neanderthal bones dating back to a relatively warm, interglacial period about 120,000 to 130,000 years ago. They also found Mousterian stone tools (a telltale sign of Neanderthal occupation), a hearth and the bones of rhinos and cave bears, but no signs of modern human occupation. Homo sapiens didn't spread into Europe until about 40,000 years ago.
The eagle talons were all found in the same archaeological layer, Frayer said, and they had been studied a few times before. But no one noticed the cut marks until last year, when DavorkaRadovčić, curator of the Croatian Natural History Museum, was reassessing some of the Krapina objects in the collection.

Dr. Keith Poulsen is a professor of veterinary medicine at

Directions: Read the following passage and answer the question that follows.

A new strain of flu that likely came from Asia has sickened thousands of dogs in the Midwest, experts say.
The new dog flu virus, which has not been seen before in U.S. dogs, has infected more than 1,000 dogs and is responsible for six dog deaths in Illinois, Wisconsin, Ohio and Indiana, according to experts from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Cornell University who have been collecting and testing samples of the virus.
"The dog population here has never seen this strain before," said Dr. Keith Poulsen, a professor of veterinary medicine at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

April 10 marks the 200^th anniversary of

Directions: Read the passage and answer the question that follows.

Two hundred years after the biggest volcanic blast in recorded history, scientists have ranked the countries most at risk of a deadly volcanic eruption.
Today (April 10) marks the 200^th anniversary of the 1815 Tambora eruption in Indonesia. The enormous explosion changed global climate, causing a "year without a summer" in the Northern Hemisphere. Sulfur dioxide from Mount Tambora lingered in the atmosphere for several years, cooling the planet and triggering crop failures, famine and human disease pandemics in North America, Europe and Asia.
"People were eating cats and rats," said Stephen Self, a volcanologist at the University of California, Berkeley and an expert on the Tambora eruption.