The Northeast region of the United States has a climate that is unique

What is the discrepancy? The discrepancy is that even though Burlington and Southern France are located at the same latitude, the climate of Burlington is not the same as that of Vermont but is more similar to regions up North.

What makes Burlington " area" so special? Let us go through the options-

A) The warm waters of the Mediterranean Ocean influence the weather of Southern France, especially the French Riviera.

Not correct because it explains the climate of Southern France but does not explain what we are interested in- the climate of Burlington.

B) The circulation of air around low pressure centers generally brings cold northern air to the western side of the low pressure.

Not correct. Although in real world we may know which area lies to west and east but that such knowledge is not required on the GMAT. So, we really do not know which area lies where and to west and north of what??? :-D :-D :-D

C) Altitude influences climate as much as does latitude and Burlington, Anchorage, and Helsinki are all less than 200 feet above sea level.

Not correct. Does this argument tell how the altitude influences the climate? No and we do not require to have that knowledge either. 200 feet above sea level makes Burlington colder or hotter? Also do we know the altitude of Southern France? This option simply plays with our pre-conceived notions and knowledge because we all know that with increase in latitude temperatures do fall. But at what altitude? We do not have so much info.This is atypical GMAT trap where it traps us into comparison between similar entities when all we require is the comparison between dis-similar entities.

D) The atmospheric jet stream moving across North America is diverted, by the Rocky Mountains, far to the south, bringing cold arctic Canadian air to the northeastern United States year round.

This option is correct because it resolves the conflicting information by providing unique information about the factor that makes NE region including Burlington unique.Note that we already know about the details of climate for Southern France , so with this extra info. everything falls into place.

E) The Western region of the contiguous United States has a stable climate dominated by the cold waters of the Pacific Ocean.

Irrelevant.We are interested with North Eastern part of the United states so to hell with the Western part :-D :-D :-D

Hope the above clears your doubt.­