Read the passage carefully and select the best answer to each question out of the given four alternatives. The Amazon basin has been continuously inhabited for at least ten thousand years, perhaps longer. Its earliest inhabitants were stone age peoples living in hundreds of scattered tribes. It was from the west that European explorers first arrived. In 1541 a Spanish expedition from Quito, led by Gonzalo Pizarro, ran short of supplies while exploring east of the Andes in what is now Peru. Pizarro's cousin Francisco de Orellana offered to take sixty men and some boats and float downstream in search of food. He floated down the Rio Napo to its confluence with the Amazon near Iquitos and then on to the mouth of the Amazon. Along the way, his expedition suffered many attacks by Indians, some of whose warriors were female, like the legendary Amazons, hence the river's name. Later, Portuguese explorers and fortune seekers pushed deeper into the rain forest. Based on the passage, from which direction did the European explorers first arrive in the Amazon basin?

Introduction / Context:
This question tests literal comprehension of a historical geography passage about the Amazon basin. The passage provides background on early inhabitants and then describes the arrival of European explorers. The key fact we need is the direction from which these explorers first entered the region.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• The passage states that the Amazon basin had been inhabited by stone age peoples long before Europeans arrived.
• It clearly mentions that it was from the west that European explorers first arrived.
• It then describes a specific expedition from Quito, which lies to the west of much of the Amazon region.
• The task is only to identify the direction, not the names or dates.

Concept / Approach:
The concept here is straightforward factual recall. In such questions, the sentence containing the answer is usually short and direct. Students need to resist the temptation to overcomplicate matters by considering geography on their own; instead, they should quote the direction exactly as the passage does.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Locate the sentence in the passage that mentions the initial arrival of European explorers.Step 2: Read it carefully; it says that it was from the west that European explorers first arrived.Step 3: Confirm that no other direction is suggested elsewhere that contradicts this.Step 4: Match from the west with the options and choose the one that states this direction.

Verification / Alternative check:
To verify, consider the example given in the passage: the expedition starts from Quito, which is in modern Ecuador on the western side of the continent relative to the Amazon basin. This geographical detail supports the statement that European exploration came from the west. Thus, both the explicit wording and the example align with option A.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Option B, from the east, is incorrect because the passage never mentions European entry from the Atlantic coast moving westwards as the first route.
Option C, from the north, and option D, from the south west, are also not supported anywhere in the passage. They are distractors designed to test whether the student is reading carefully or simply guessing based on mental maps.

Common Pitfalls:
Some candidates overthink the geography and imagine explorers sailing up the Amazon from the Atlantic, which would suggest an eastern entry. However, the passage speaks specifically about the first explorers and clarifies that they came from the west. Another pitfall is ignoring the explicit sentence in favour of outside historical knowledge or assumptions.

Final Answer:
The passage clearly states that it was from the west that European explorers first entered the Amazon basin. Therefore, the correct answer is From the west.