Read the excerpt from E.O. Wilson’s “The Environmental Ethic.” Species are disappearing at an accelerating rate through human action, primarily habitat destruction but also pollution and the introduction of exotic species into residual natural environments. I have said that a fifth or more of the species of plants and animals could vanish or be doomed to early extinction by the year 2020 unless better efforts are made to save them. . . . As the last forests are felled in forest strongholds like the Philippines and Ecuador, the decline of species will accelerate even more. In the world as a whole, extinction rates are already hundreds or thousands of times higher than before the coming of man. They cannot be balanced by new evolution in any period of time that has meaning for the human race. What message does the author convey in this excerpt?
Read the excerpt from "The Environmental Ethic." Mother Earth . . . is no more than the commonality of organisms and the physical environment they maintain with each passing moment, an environment that will destabilize and turn lethal if the organisms are disturbed too much. . . . To disregard the diversity of life is to risk catapulting ourselves into an alien environment. We will have become like the pilot whales that inexplicably beach themselves on New England shores. Which of the following choices best expresses the type of appeal Wilson uses in this passage?
Read the excerpt from E.O. Wilson’s “The Environmental Ethic.” Why should we care? What difference does it make if some species are extinguished, if even half of all the species on earth disappear? Let me count the ways. New sources of scientific information will be lost. Vast potential biological wealth will be destroyed. Still undeveloped medicines, crops, pharmaceuticals, timber, fibers, pulp, soil-restoring vegetation, petroleum substitutes, and other products and amenities will never come to light. It is fashionable in some quarters to wave aside the small and obscure, the bugs and weeds, forgetting that an obscure moth from Latin America saved Australia’s pastureland from overgrowth by cactus, that the rosy periwinkle provided the cure for Hodgkin’s disease and childhood lymphocytic leukemia, that the bark of the Pacific yew offers hope for victims of ovarian and breast cancer, that a chemical from the saliva of leeches dissolves blood clots during surgery, and so on down a roster already grown long and illustrious despite the limited research addressed to it. Which techniques does Wilson use in this excerpt to convey important information to his readers?
Review the title and image in "As Debris Piles Up, Americans Are Skeptical Enough Will Be Done to Limit Space Junk.” As Debris Piles Up, Americans Are Skeptical Enough Will Be Done to Limit Space Junk by Mark Strauss Open image in full-screen view Based on the title and image, which prediction about the passage is best supported?
Read the excerpt from "As Debris Piles Up, Americans Are Skeptical Enough Will Be Done to Limit Space Junk.” Open image in full-screen view Private companies such as SpaceX, Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic are becoming increasingly important players in space exploration. Many Americans are confident these companies will be profitable, but they’re more skeptical they will keep space clean of debris, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey . Which phrase from the excerpt is an example of a hyperlink?
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