Read the excerpt from "the environmental ethic."

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 of the following claims is best supported by the evidence in this excerpt?

a. all species are worth protecting because even the small organisms contribute important functions in the environment.

b. every effort should be made to protect each bug and weed species regardless of its potential to cause destruction.

c. all of the species that are now extinct or are becoming extinct could have cured a disease.

d. only the species that can be used for medical purposes are worth protecting from extinction.

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?

a. humans need to take action to end further destruction of the natural environment.

b. in the coming years, humans will put forth stronger efforts to save plants and animals.

c. the extinction of plant and animal species is problematic in the philippines and ecuador.

c. in recent years, the extinction rate for many animal species has significantly
increased.