GRE Reading Comprehension
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Source: BOOST
The Earth's magnetic field is generated as the molten iron of the Earth's outer core revolves around its solid inner core. When surges in the molten iron occur, magnetic tempests are created. At the Earth's surface, these tempests can be detected by changes in the strength of the Earth's magnetic field. For reasons not fully understood, the field itself reverses periodically every million years or so. During the past million years, for instance, the magnetic north pole has migrated between the Antarctic and the Arctic.
Clearly, geophysicists who seek to explain and forecast changes in the field must understand what happens in the outer core. Unlike meteorologists, however, they cannot rely on observations made in their own lifetimes. Whereas atmospheric storms arise in a matter of hours and last for days, magnetic tempests develop over decades and persist for centuries. Fortunately scientists have been recording changes in the Earth's magnetic field for more than 300 years.
In the second paragraph, the author is primarily concerned with
- A stating a limitation that helps determine a research methodology
- B making a comparative analysis of two different research methodologies
- C assessing the amount of empirical data in the field of physical science
- D suggesting an optimistic way of viewing a widely feared phenomenon
- E describing a fundamental issue and discussing its future impact on society