Read each of the following two passages and answer the items that follow. Your answers to these items should be based on the passages only. Passage-1 Ecosystems provide people with a variety of goods and services; food, clean water, clean air, flood control, soil stabilization, pollination, climate regulation, spiritual fulfilment and aesthetic enjoyment, to name just a few. Most of these benefits either are irreplaceable or the technology necessary to replace them is prohibitively expensive. For example, potable fresh water can be provided by desalinating sea- water, but only at great cost. The rapidly expanding human population has greatly modified the Earth's ecosystems to meet their increased requirements of some of the goods and services, particularly food, fresh water, timber, fibre and fuel. These modifications have contributed substantially to human well being and economic development. The benefits have not been equally distributed. Some people have actually been harmed by these changes. Moreover, short- term increases in some ecosystem goods and services have come at the cost of the long- term degradation of others. For example, efforts to increase the production of food and fibre have decreased the ability of some ecosystems to provide clean water, regulate flooding and support biodiversity. With reference to the passage, consider the following statements. Expanding human' population has an adverse effect on: 1. Spiritual fulfilment 2. Aesthetic enjoyment 3. Potable fresh water 4. Production of food and fibre 5. Biodiversity Which of the statements given above are correct?

The passage states that "The rapidly expanding human population has greatly modified the Earth's ecosystems to meet their increased requirements of some of the goods and services, particularly food, fresh water, timber, fibre and fuel." It further clarifies that "short-term increases in some ecosystem goods and services have come at the cost of the long-term degradation of others. For example, efforts to increase the production of food and fibre have decreased the ability of some ecosystems to provide clean water, regulate flooding and support biodiversity." Let's analyze each statement: 1. Spiritual fulfilment: The passage lists spiritual fulfilment as an ecosystem service but does not explicitly state that expanding human population has an adverse effect on it. While modifications have occurred, the passage does not link them to the degradation of spiritual fulfilment. 2. Aesthetic enjoyment: Similar to spiritual fulfilment, aesthetic enjoyment is listed as an ecosystem service, but the passage does not specifically mention an adverse effect on it due to expanding human population. 3. Potable fresh water: The passage mentions that "efforts to increase the production of food and fibre have decreased the ability of some ecosystems to provide clean water." Since "clean water" is directly related to "potable fresh water" (as exemplified by desalination being a costly alternative for potable fresh water), the expanding human population's activities have an adverse effect on the availability of potable fresh water from ecosystems. This statement is correct. 4. Production of food and fibre: The passage states that the human population has modified ecosystems "to meet their increased requirements of some of the goods and services, particularly food, fresh water, timber, fibre and fuel." It also mentions "efforts to increase the production of food and fibre." This indicates an *increase* in the production of food and fibre, not an adverse effect or decrease. This statement is incorrect. 5. Biodiversity: The passage explicitly states that "efforts to increase the production of food and fibre have decreased the ability of some ecosystems to... support biodiversity." This directly links the expanding human population's activities to an adverse effect on biodiversity. This statement is correct. Therefore, only statements 3 and 5 are correct based on the passage. The final answer is C.