The assault on the purity of the environment is the price that we pay for many…
2024
The assault on the purity of the environment is the price that we pay for many of the benefits of modern technology. For the advantage of automotive transportation we pay a price in smog-induced diseases; for the powerful effects of new insecticides, we pay a price in dwindling wildlife and disturbances in the relation of living things and their surroundings; for nuclear power, we risk the biological hazards of radiation. By increasing agricultural production with fertilizers, we worsen water population. The highly developed nations of the world are not only the immediate beneficiaries of the good that technology can do, that are also the first victims of environmental diseases that technology breeds. In the past, the environmental effects which accompanied technological progress were restricted to a small and relatively short time.
The new hazards neither local nor brief. Modern air pollution covers vast areas of continents: Radioactive fallout from the nuclear explosion is worldwide. Radioactive pollutants now on the earth surface will be found there for generations, and in case of Carbon-14, for thousands of years.
What will be the effects of Radioactive pollutants?
- A.
Will pollute the environment for years.
- B.
They cannot pollute Earth for a long time.
- C.
Contaminate Earth surface for a long time.
- D.
None of the above
Attempted by 4 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C
Answer: Radioactive pollutants will contaminate the Earth's surface for a long time.
The passage states that radioactive pollutants now on the earth's surface will be found there for generations.
Carbon-14 is given as an example that can persist for thousands of years, showing the contamination is long-term.
The passage also describes modern radioactive fallout as worldwide and not brief, reinforcing the lasting and widespread effect.
Therefore, the passage supports the conclusion that radioactive pollutants contaminate the Earth's surface for a long time, causing prolonged environmental and health risks.