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Because the specific heat capacity of oceanic water significantly exce
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17 Apr 2026, 00:12
17 Apr 2026, 00:12
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Question Stats:
36% (01:18) correct
63% (01:06) wrong based on 22 sessions
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Because the specific heat capacity of oceanic water significantly exceeds that of terrestrial surfaces, the world's oceans effectively ________ the magnitude of seasonal thermal fluctuations.
| Two Answers |
|---|
| A. intensify |
| B. mitigate |
| C. forestall | D. dampen | E. underscore |
| F. accentuate |
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Re: Because the specific heat capacity of oceanic water significantly exce
[#permalink]
20 Apr 2026, 04:00
20 Apr 2026, 04:00
Expert Reply
1. The Logic Structure
- The Inference: If the ocean has a much higher $c$ than land, then for the same amount of solar radiation $(Q)$, the change in temperature $(\Delta T)$ will be significantly smaller.
- The Logic Gate: The word "because" creates a causal link. High heat capacity causes the temperature changes to be less extreme. We are looking for verbs that mean "to reduce," "to moderate," or "to lessen."
2. Evaluating the Choices :
- A. intensify: (Opposite Trap) Means to make more intense. High heat capacity does the opposite.
- B. mitigate: (Correct) To make less severe, serious, or painful. In a physical context, it means to moderate the extremes.
- C. forestall: (Category Trap) Means to prevent or obstruct by taking action ahead of time. The ocean doesn't "prevent" the seasons from happening; it just makes the temperature shifts less violent.
- D. dampen: (Correct) In physics and logic, to "dampen" is to reduce the amplitude or intensity of a physical process (like a wave or a temperature swing).
- E. underscore: (Thematic Trap) Means to emphasize. This is a "rhetorical" word often found in GRE distractors that has no place in a thermodynamics problem.
- F. accentuate: (Opposite Trap) A synonym for intensify.
- The Inference: If the ocean has a much higher $c$ than land, then for the same amount of solar radiation $(Q)$, the change in temperature $(\Delta T)$ will be significantly smaller.
- The Logic Gate: The word "because" creates a causal link. High heat capacity causes the temperature changes to be less extreme. We are looking for verbs that mean "to reduce," "to moderate," or "to lessen."
2. Evaluating the Choices :
- A. intensify: (Opposite Trap) Means to make more intense. High heat capacity does the opposite.
- B. mitigate: (Correct) To make less severe, serious, or painful. In a physical context, it means to moderate the extremes.
- C. forestall: (Category Trap) Means to prevent or obstruct by taking action ahead of time. The ocean doesn't "prevent" the seasons from happening; it just makes the temperature shifts less violent.
- D. dampen: (Correct) In physics and logic, to "dampen" is to reduce the amplitude or intensity of a physical process (like a wave or a temperature swing).
- E. underscore: (Thematic Trap) Means to emphasize. This is a "rhetorical" word often found in GRE distractors that has no place in a thermodynamics problem.
- F. accentuate: (Opposite Trap) A synonym for intensify.
gmatclubot
Re: Because the specific heat capacity of oceanic water significantly exce [#permalink]
20 Apr 2026, 04:00
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