In only 50 years, the world's consumption of raw materials has nearly quadrupled, to more than 100 billion tons. Less than 9% of this is reused. Batteries of old vehicles contain materials such as lithium, cobalt, manganese and nickel that are pricey and can be hard to obtain. Supply chains are long and complicated. Buyers' risks are being aggravated by their suppliers' poor environmental and labour standards. Reusing materials makes sense. Once batteries reach the ends of their lives, they should go back to a factory where their ingredients can be recovered and put into new batteries. With reference to the above passage, the following assumptions have been made: I. Automobile factories are examples of the circular economy. II. Economic growth is compatible with circular use of mineral resources. Which of the above assumptions is/are valid?

The passage highlights the problem of high raw material consumption and the benefits of reusing materials, specifically mentioning valuable battery components. Statement I: Automobile factories are examples of the circular economy. The passage describes a circular process for *battery materials* (recovering ingredients from old batteries to put into new ones). It does not provide information to assume that *entire automobile factories* operate on circular economy principles for all their products and processes. The focus is specifically on battery recycling. Therefore, this assumption is not directly supported. Statement II: Economic growth is compatible with circular use of mineral resources. The passage implicitly supports this. It states that reusing materials "makes sense" and allows for "new batteries" to be made from recovered ingredients. This suggests that by adopting circular practices, industries can continue production (a component of economic growth) while mitigating resource depletion and supply chain risks. The advocacy for reuse implies it's a viable strategy for continued economic activity. Therefore, this assumption is valid. The final answer is B because only statement II is a valid assumption based on the passage.