What message is conveyed by the picture?

The correct answer is Option (4) → If industrial pollution continues fauna and flora will be depleted and it will create imbalance in the ecological-system.

Option (1) It will create balance in the world — Incorrect. The cartoon shows the Earth being burnt up, which upsets the balance of nature rather than creating one.

Option (2) Forestation is going on all over the world — Incorrect. There are no trees in the cartoon; the fingers are drawn as factory chimneys giving out smoke.

Option (3) If industrial development continues, the developing countries will become economically dependent — Incorrect. The cartoon says nothing about trade, aid or dependence between countries; its subject is pollution and the warming of the Earth.

Option (4) If industrial pollution continues fauna and flora will be depleted and it will create imbalance in the ecological-system. — Correct. The hand of chimneys holds the Earth as a lighter that is burning. Industrial smoke is setting the planet on fire: if it goes on, plant and animal life will be lost and the balance of the ecosystem will break down.

Note: The cartoon of Q6 to Q10 is taken from the NCERT chapter ‘Environment and Natural Resources’, where it is printed with the title ‘Global Warming’ and the question ‘Why do you think the fingers are designed like chimneys and the world made into a lighter?’. The book’s own question under a cartoon is often the very question NTA asks, so answer it for yourself while revising.