The passage mentions which of the following

The passage mentions which of the following as being a characteristic of seasonal ice? Arctic sea ice comes in two varieties. Seasonal ice forms in winter and then melts in summer, while perennial ice persists year-round. To the untrained eye, all sea ice looks similar, but by licking it, one can estimate how long a particular piece has been floating around. When ice begins to form in seawater, it forces out salt, which has no place in the crystal structure. As the ice gets thicker, the rejected salt collects in tiny pockets of brine too highly concentrated to freeze. A piece of first-year ice will taste salty. Eventually, if the ice survives, these pockets of brine drain out through fine, veinlike channels, and the ice becomes fresher; multiyear ice can even be melted and drunk. It is similar in appearance to perennial ice., It is typically filled with fine, veinlike channels., It tastes saltier than perennial ice.

3 Explanations

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MONIKA RAVINDRAN

Hi,

They have mentioned in the passage, "To the untrained eye, all sea ice looks similar,"

which means, it is not similar right? Why A is correct?

Dec 19, 2018 • Comment

Sam Kinsman

Hi Monika,

Happy to help!

The passage says: "To the untrained eye, all sea ice looks similar." This does not necessarily mean that it does NOT look similar if you have been trained. In fact, the passage does not go on to tell us that seasonal ice and perennial ice can be distinguished just by looking at it. So therefore, we cannot assume that seasonal ice and perennial ice can be distinguished just by looking at it.

All we know that is that to most people, all sea ice looks similar. Therefore, we know that seasonal ice is similar in appearance to perennial ice, so A is correct.

Another further hint is that the passage discussed in depth how people can tell the difference between the two kinds of ice by tasting them. And it never discusses how you people can tell the difference by looking at the two kinds of ice. If this were possible to do, the passage would most likely have mentioned it.

Dec 19, 2018 • Reply

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Abhinav Shahu

I am not getting why option C is correct.
The seasonal ice is the ice which doesn't long whole year (as it forms in winter & then melts in summer). So when the author is saying that "A piece of first-year ice will taste salty...melted and drunk.". He is talking about perennial ice not seasonal ice. Also here first-year ice means that It has been 1 year since the (perennial) ice has been formed. So it can't be seasonal ice. Am i correct in understanding?

Feb 3, 2017 • Comment

Adam

Hi Abhinav,

Good question. "First-year ice" does not necessarily mean "ice that has lasted for one year." It can (and in this case does) mean "ice that is less than one year old."

We know that seasonal ice will be saltier than perennial ice because the salt only leaves the ice after a long period of time:

"Eventually, if the ice survives, these pockets of brine drain out through fine, veinlike channels, and the ice becomes fresher..."

Since seasonal ice never lasts a whole year, it will always be salty.

Feb 3, 2017 • Reply

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Chris Lele