ACCORDING TO THE PASSAGE, WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING STATEMENTS ABOUT G...

27.

According to the passage, which of the following statements about green buildings is TRUE?

A.

They have only been built in technologically developed countries.

B. They are gaining in popularity in different parts of the world.

C.

They are environmentally responsible constructions with gardens.

D.

They are more economical and produce no pollution.

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D to indicate the correct answer to

each of the questions.

Biological diversity has become widely recognized as a critical conservation issue only

in the past two decades. The rapid destruction of the tropical rain forests, which are the

ecosystems with the highes species diversity on Earth, has awakened people to the importance

and fragility of biological diversity. The high rate of species extinctions in these environments

is

jolting, but it is important to recognize the significance of biological diversity in all

ecosystems. As the human population continues to expand, it will negatively affect Earth's

ecosystems. In terrestrial ecosystems and in fringe marine ecosystems (such as wetlands), the

most common problem is habitat destruction. In most situations, the result is irreversible. Now

humans are beginning to destroy marine ecosystems through other types of activities, such as

disposal and runoff of poisonous waste; in less than two centuries, by significantly reducing the

variety of species on Earth, they have irrevocably redirected the course of evolution.

Certainly, there have been periods in Earth's history when mass extinctions have

occurred. The extinction of the dinosaurs was caused by some physical events, either climatic or

cosmic. There have also been less dramatic extinctions, as when natural competition between

species reached an extreme conclusion. Only 0.01 percent of the species that have lived on

Earth have survived to the present, and it was largely chance that determined which species

survived and which died out.

However, nothing has ever equaled the

magnitude

and speed with which the human

species is altering the physical and chemical world and demolishing the environment. In fact,

there is wide agreement that it is the rate of change humans are inflicting, even more than the

changes themselves, that will lead to biological devastation. Life on Earth has continually been

in flux as slow physical and chemical changes have occurred on Earth, but life needs time for

the proliferation of new genetic material and new species that may be able to survive in new

environments.