Question

read this paragraph. what causes the amount of rain to be so small? four mountain ranges stand between death valley and the pacific ocean. as storm clouds from the pacific move toward the valley, they must rise to cross the mountains. each time the clouds rise, they lose water in the form of rain or snow. by the time storm clouds have crossed over all four ranges, very little water is left for death valley. the author says that death valley is so dry because there are four mountain ranges between death valley and the pacific ocean. how does the author support this idea? by explaining that storm clouds lose water as they cross the mountains by providing the name of the badwater basin valley by explaining that death valley is below sea level by telling how much water visitors should take to death valley

Explanation:

To determine how the author supports the idea that Death Valley is dry due to the four mountain ranges, we analyze each option:

• Option 1: The paragraph states that as storm clouds from the Pacific move toward Death Valley and cross the four mountain ranges, they lose water (as rain/snow) each time they rise. This explains why little water is left for Death Valley, so this option matches the author's support.
• Option 2: The name of Badwater Basin valley is not related to explaining the dryness due to mountain ranges.
• Option 3: Death Valley's sea - level status is not mentioned as a reason for its dryness in relation to the mountain ranges.
• Option 4: Information about water visitors should take is irrelevant to the author's explanation of Death Valley's dryness.

Answer:

A. by explaining that storm clouds lose water as they cross the mountains