Question 12 In the lands around the Indian Ocean, the rainy and dry seasons reflect the influence of alternating winds known as monsoons. A gigantic high-pressure zone over the Himalaya Mountains that peaks from December to March produces southern Asia’s dry season by forcing strong ocean winds in the western Indian Ocean to blow toward southward and westward toward Africa. This is the northeast monsoon. Between April and August, a low-pressure zone over India reverses the process by drawing moist oceanic air from the south and west to form the southwest monsoon. This brings southern Asia the heavy rains of its wet season, usually called the monsoon season.

Bulliet et al., The Earth and Its Peoples, 7th edition, Boston: Cengage Learning, 2018, p. 350.

Which of the following emerged in East Africa as a result of the migrations and commercial contacts made possible by the environmental conditions described in the passage?
a. The domestication of the camel for travel through the interior of Africa
b. The emergence of the new Swahili language
c. De-urbanization as people preferred temporary structures to permanent ones due to the destruction caused by coastal storms
d. A sense of curiosity about science and nature that led to state-sponsored voyages of exploration and scientific discovery