Read the passage and answer the four questions that follow:-
Until a hundred years ago as humans, we had a simple, uncomplicated biological connect with nature. It was a straightforward equation: we drew roughly 3,000 calories each of energy out of the Earth for our food and life's sustenance. Today that number per capita has grown to 1,00,000 calories. We still need only 3,000 calories each to nourish life itself. All the rest of this energy is what we extract from the Earth for everything else besides keeping ourselves alive.
How to soften this abuse of resources? What is sustainable development? How can it be started in our homes? Beyond the ceremonial planting of green and getting people to run marathons of various lengths in support of the environment, is there more that we can add to the abstract value of "sustainability"? What are the little things we can do in our day-to-day lives, to reduce the demand for things that people make and market? Of course, we know that it helps to avoid a plastic bag when you can use a newspaper bag, or a brown bag, or even a jute bag, which you can use for many more years.
However, there's actually quite a bit more that you and I can do, with very little as cost incurred, and with solutions that are very feasible and within our reach. It is possible to understand our ecological footprint and its disastrous consequences, in terms of the impact on the environment that we make.
The primary concern of the passage is _____.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → we need to respect the Earth and consume less of its calories
The passage shows that we now take about 1,00,000 calories each from the Earth though we need only 3,000 to live, calls this an abuse of resources, and asks how we can reduce our demand in daily life. Its main concern is that we should respect the Earth and take less from it.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: there is a need to save energy, especially for our future — Incorrect. Wrong focus: the passage is about the abuse of the Earth's resources and our ecological footprint; it does not focus on saving energy for our own future.
Option 2: all of us should not only plant trees but also run the marathon — Incorrect. Misread: the writer calls tree-planting ceremonial and asks for more than marathons; he does not urge us to run them.
Option 3: use of plastic bags should be completely banned — Incorrect. Overstated: avoiding plastic bags is only one small example; the passage never asks for a ban.