Desmos Graphing Calculator

Copy

Verbal·Information and Ideas·Inferences

medium

Hydrologists recently developed a model to forecast how growing water demand will affect streamflow in river basins in the western United States. Unfortunately, when the model is applied to basins fed mainly by melting snowpack, its forecasts of spring streamflow are too low, and when it is applied to basins fed mainly by rainfall, its forecasts of summer streamflow are too high. The Yampa River basin in northwestern Colorado receives most of its water from snowmelt. If used to forecast the effect of growing water demand on the Yampa River basin over the next decade, the model would therefore likely       

Which choice most logically completes the text?

A

overestimate the basin’s actual summer streamflow.

B

underestimate the basin’s actual spring streamflow.

C

exaggerate the effect of growing water demand on rainfall-fed tributaries.

D

account for factors affecting streamflow other than growing water demand.