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Direction: Read the following passage very carefully and answer 1-15 according to the information given in the passage by choosing from the given alternative (A, B, C, and D)

There are two main categories of polluting material or pollutants. Biodegradable pollutants are materials such as sewage that rapidly decompose by natural processes. No degradable pollutants are materials that either do not decompose or decompose slowly in the natural environment. Once contamination occurs, removing these pollutants from the environment is difficult or impossible.

Rainwater once was the purest form of water available but now is often contaminated by pollutants in the air. Acid rain is caused when industrial emissions mix with atmospheric moisture. Pollutants may be carried in could far away from, and factories may be damaged by acid rain. In the near vicinity of the factories, additional damage is caused by deposition, a kind of dry min in which the larger pollutant particles fail in the ground. Air pollution has been increasing since the industrial Revolution but only recently have side effects such as acid rain become severe and widespread enough to evoke international concern. Because humans are at the top of the food chain, they are particularly vulnerable to the effects of non-degradable pollutants. This was clearly illustrated in the 1950s and 1960s when residents lived near Minamata.

Bay, Japan, developed nervous disorders, thermo, and analysis in a mysterious epidemic. More than 400 people died before authorities discovered that a local industry had released mercury in Minamata Bay. This highly toxic elements accumulated in the bodies of local fish and eventually in the bodies of people who poi-ram-led the fish.

Pollution also has a dramatic effect on natural resources. Ecosystems such as forests, wetlands, coral reefs, and rivers perform many important services for Earth's environment. They enhance water and air quality, provide habitat for plants and animals and provide food and medicines. Any or all of these ecosystem functions may be impaired or destroyed by pollution.

Another major effect of pollution is the tremendous cost of pollution cleanup and prevention. Expenditures to reduce pollution in the United States, in 1993, for example, totaled $ 109 billion out of which twenty-nine percent went toward air pollution, thirty-six percent to water pollution, and thirty-six percent to solid waste management. In addition to its effect on the economy, health, and natural resources, pollution has social implications. Research has shown that low-income populations and minorities do not receive the same protection from environmental contamination as do higher-income communities. Toxic waste incinerators, chemical plants, and solid waste dumps are often located in low-income communities because of a lack or organized, informed community involvement in the municipal decision-making process.