The assault on the purity of the environment is the price that we pay for many…
2023
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 pollution. The highly developed nations of the world are not only the immediate beneficiaries of the good that technology can do, they 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 are 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's surface will be found there for generations, and in the case of Carbon-14, for thousands of years.
The passage essentially says that modern technology has:
- A.
Caused severe threats to life of everyone
- B.
Produced influential chemicals
- C.
Provided ways to save our society
- D.
None of the above
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A
A 'the passage essentially says' question asks for the passage's overall thesis, the one statement that the whole passage supports through its examples, not a single supporting detail, and not something absent from or contrary to the text.
Every example in the passage supports one conclusion:
Automobiles lead to smog-induced diseases
Insecticides cause dwindling wildlife and disturbed ecological relations
Nuclear power carries biological hazards of radiation
Fertilizers worsen water pollution
Developed nations are the first victims of environmental diseases that technology breeds
The new hazards are neither local nor brief: air pollution spans continents, radioactive fallout is worldwide, and radioactive pollutants such as Carbon-14 persist for generations, even thousands of years
Together, these examples describe modern technology creating serious, widespread, long-lasting threats to life and health.
Producing influential chemicals isolates one example (insecticides) and reframes it as a neutral achievement, ignoring the passage's actual point about the harm these chemicals cause.
Providing ways to save our society reverses the passage's stance; the text is about an assault and hazards, never about solutions or protection.
None of the above fails because one option does restate the passage's thesis directly.
Therefore, the passage essentially says that modern technology has caused severe threats to life of everyone.