While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:
<ul> <li>The Aral Sea was once the world's fourth-largest lake.</li> <li>In the 1960s, Soviet irrigation projects diverted its main rivers for cotton farming.</li> <li>By 2014, the eastern basin had completely dried up.</li> <li>The lake's surface area shrank by more than 90 percent.</li> <li>Local fisheries collapsed, and salt-laden dust storms became common.</li> </ul> The student wants to emphasize the human cause of the Aral Sea's decline. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?Which choice most effectively makes the student's point?
- A
The Aral Sea was once the world's fourth-largest lake.
- Bcheck_circle
Once the world's fourth-largest lake, the Aral Sea has shrunk by more than 90 percent because Soviet-era irrigation projects diverted its rivers for cotton farming.
- C
By 2014, the eastern basin of the Aral Sea had dried up.
- D
Local fisheries collapsed and salt-laden dust storms became common.
Explanation
The goal is the human cause. Choice B explicitly attributes the shrinkage to the irrigation diversion. A and C describe consequences without naming a cause; D is general background.