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 pollution. The highly developed nations of the world are not only the immediate beneficiaries of the good that technology can do, but 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 nuclear explosions is worldwide. Radioactive pollutants now on the earth's surface will be found there for generations, and in case of Carbon-14, for thousands of years.
What is the effect of using too much of insecticides?
Answer: C. Created disparity in the relationship between nature and the living beings. — In a reading-comprehension detail question, the correct option is the one that restates a consequence the passage itself explicitly states — not a plausible…
- A.
It killed many insects
- B.
Reduced the number of insects on plantations and farms
- C.
Created disparity in the relationship between nature and the living beings.
- D.
None
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C
In a reading-comprehension detail question, the correct option is the one that restates a consequence the passage itself explicitly states — not a plausible real-world effect the passage never mentions, and not the stated purpose behind an action.
The passage says that for the benefits of insecticides we pay a price 'in dwindling wildlife and disturbances in the relation of living things and their surroundings.' The question asks for this stated effect of overusing insecticides — the disruption of the relationship between nature and living beings is exactly what the passage names.
It killed many insects — describes the direct working of an insecticide, not the environmental price the passage is highlighting.
Reduced the number of insects on plantations and farms — states the intended agricultural purpose of using insecticides, not the unintended cost the passage describes.
None — the passage explicitly lists environmental costs of insecticide use, so this option contradicts the text.
Matching the option wording against the passage's own phrase confirms the disturbed relationship between living things and their surroundings as the stated effect, not the counts described in the other options.