Previous Year Questions

Question :

Directions : In the following passage, some of the words have been left out and replaced with blanks represented by letters. First, read the passage and try to understand what it is about. Then, fill in the blanks as per the questions given.

Farmers pray for rain in times of drought. Most of us have experience wanting the heavens to open so that our gardens can be watered during an excessively dry ____A____. However, none of us can imagine a prolonged period of rain lasting two million years. U.K. geologist and forensic scientist Alastair Ruffell has discovered that 200-300 million years ago, before the single landmass of Pangaea separated into continents, Earth did see a/an ____B____ during which it rained non-stop for up to two million years. Dr Ruffell said this helped forge the development of flora and fauna all over the globe. He believes the precipitation may have been ____C____ by a huge rise in humidity following a series of massive volcanic eruptions. Dr Ruffell and his team based their findings on research conducted on strata of rock in the Eastern Alps in Europe in the 1970s and 80s. The data showed ____D____ layers deposited in ancient rock that dated back over 200 million years. Ruffell said this led to growing evidence that the wet period may have been "the trigger that enabled dinosaurs, and ____E____ the other members of our modern land-based fauna, to diversify and dominate the land". He added: "It may have been one of the most important events in the history of life, in terms of its role in ____F____ not only the age of dinosaurs, but also the origins of most key classes that form the modern fauna of...turtles, crocodiles, lizards and mammals."

Which of the following can replace blank (D) in the passage?