Question

1. in figure 2: glacial - interglacial cycles over the past 450,000 years, the temperature in degrees fahrenheit is found on the x - axis (bottom) / y - axis (left) (circle one).
2. in figure 2, the passage of time, in years, is found on the x - axis (bottom) / y - axis (left) (circle one).
3. the last interglacial period before the present day occurred approximately

a. 400,000 years ago
b. 120,000 years ago
c. 50,000 years ago

Explanation:

Step1: Analyze axis labels

In a typical graph, the \(x -\)axis (horizontal) and \(y -\)axis (vertical) have different labels. For question 3, looking at the graph, the \(y -\)axis is labeled "Temperature (\(^{\circ}F\))". For question 4, the \(x -\)axis is labeled "Years Ago".

Step2: Locate interglacial period

For question 5, interglacial periods are the peaks (warmer periods) on the graph. Looking at the \(x -\)axis (time scale: years ago), the last interglacial before the present (at \(0\) years ago on the \(x -\)axis) is near \(120,000\) years ago.

Answer:

1. Y - axis (left)
2. X - axis (bottom)
3. b. 120,000 years ago