Passage 3 – Alaska and Bark Beetles
1. The word “subtle“ in the passage is closest in meaning to
- A. limited
- B. unimportant
- C. not obvious
- D. gradual
Paragraph 1
Over the twentieth century, global temperatures increased by an average of about 0.7 degrees Celsius, but some places have warmed a lot more than this, and other places have warmed less. These temperature increases have been enough to trigger changes in ecosystems all over the world, especially in places where the warming has been the greatest. In some places, the changes have been subtle, perhaps a slight shift in vegetation that only a careful observer would notice. In other cases, small changes in climate have sparked a chain of larger effects, leading to massive changes.