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Directions : Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow by choosing the most appropriate options from the givne ones. (1) High - speed solar winds from a "hole'' in the sun's atomoshpere are set to hit Earth's magnetic field, triggering a minor G - 1 geomagenetic storm. (2) Forecasters at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Weather Prediction Centre (SWPC) made the prediction after observing that "gaseous material is flowing from a southern hole in the sun's atmosphere. (3) Coronal holes are areas in the sun's upper atomosphere where our star's electifified gas (or plasma) is cooler and less dense. Such holes are also Where the sun's magnetic field lines, instead of looping back in on themselves, beam outward into space. This enables solar material to surge out is a torrent that travels at speeds up to 1.8 million miles per hour (2.9 million km/hr), according to the Exploratorium, a science museum in San Francisco. (4) On planets with strong magnetic fields, like our own, this barrage of solar debris is asbsorbed, triggering geomagnetic storms. During these storms, Earth's magnetic field gets compressed slightly by the waves of highly energetic particles. These particles trickle down magnetic field lines near the poles and agitate molecules in the atmosphere, releasing energy in the form of light to create colourfuly auroras. (5) Scientists think the largests solar storm every witnessed during contemporary history was the 1859 Carrington Event, which released roughly the same energy as 10 billion 1 - megaton atomic bombs. After slamming into Earth, the powerful stream of solar particles fried telegraph systems all over the world and caused auroras brighter than the light of the full moon to appear as far south as the Caribbean. If a similar event were to happen today, scientists warn, it would cause trillions of dollars in damage and trigger widespread blackouts, much like the 1989 solar storm that released a billion-ton plume of gas and caused a blackout across the entire Canadian province of Quebec, NASA reported. Study the following statements given below carefully, marked as Assertion (A) and Reason (R). Choose the most suitable option from the alternatives that follow. Assertion (A) : Minor geomagnetic storm will be triggered. Reason (R): High-speed solar radiation hit Earth's magnetic field.
