Read the given passage and answer the following questions based on it.
Emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases plunged 4.6 percent in 2020, as lockdowns in the first half of the year restricted global mobility and hampered economic activity. Many hoped that this would mark the beginning of a more permanent shift downwards in emissions. Emissions from the manufacturing and the energy sectors contributed the most to recent global increases based on updated information from the IMF’s Climate Change Indicators Dashboard —a joint effort among national and international statistical organizations to provide timely data to help monitor the transition to lower carbon use. As greenhouse gas emissions from human activities increase, they build up in the atmosphere and warm the climate, leading to many other changes around the world —in the atmosphere, on land, and in the oceans. While total emissions have climbed significantly above pre-pandemic levels, increases from transportation and households were more muted last year as the pandemic weighed on global mobility. This was particularly evident with the emergence of the omicron variant in the fourth quarter of last year. The public health policy measures in many countries drove down the emissions of households and of the electricity sector.
It will be important to monitor the emissions of both of these sectors as economies fully reopen in the context of historically high fossil fuel-based energy prices. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has said that, in the scenarios they assessed, limiting atmospheric warming to the key level of around 1.5 degrees Celsius requires global greenhouse gas emissions to peak by 2025 at the latest, emphasizing that achieving this milestone is a crucial step towards controlling the severity of climate change. The new data from the climate dashboard underscore what some scientists have warned: time is running out, and we must urgently bend the emissions curve to achieve the necessary reductions to limit atmospheric warming.
Which of the following words is the synonym of “curve” as highlighted in the given passage?
Correct Answer :
trajectory
Solution :
The correct answer is trajectory.
Let us carefully analyze the question. The passage ends with the phrase:
"...we must urgently bend the emissions curve to achieve the necessary reductions to limit atmospheric warming."
The word "curve" here is used figuratively, not literally. It refers to the path or direction that emissions are following over time — in other words, the overall trend or track of greenhouse gas emissions as plotted on a timeline or graph.
Now, let us examine each option to find the best synonym:
1. loop — A loop implies a circular or closed path that returns to its starting point. This does not match the meaning of "curve" as used in the passage, which refers to a directional trend, not a circular one. ❌
2. pendulous — This is an adjective meaning hanging or swinging loosely (like a pendulum). It is not a synonym for the noun/verb use of "curve" in this context. ❌
3. spiral — A spiral suggests a continuously winding path moving inward or outward. While it can sometimes describe trends, it carries a specific connotation of a repetitive, coiling motion that does not fit the passage's meaning precisely. ❌
4. trajectory — A trajectory refers to the path, course, or direction that something follows over time. In scientific and everyday language, "trajectory" is commonly used to describe the direction of trends (e.g., an emissions trajectory). When scientists say "bend the emissions curve," they mean changing the trajectory — the projected path — of emissions to reduce them. This perfectly captures the figurative meaning in the passage. ✅
5. abaft — This is a nautical term meaning "toward the stern (back) of a ship." It is completely unrelated to the meaning of "curve" in this context. ❌
Conclusion: The word "curve" in the phrase "bend the emissions curve" is used to describe the projected path or direction of emissions over time. The word that best captures this meaning is trajectory, which denotes the course or track something follows — making it the correct synonym here.
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