Question

Read the selection. Then answer the question.

A Whale of a Problem

For ages, whales have swum the Earth’s oceans. Every winter, thousands of Pacific Gray whales swim from Alaska to Mexico. They spend the summer feeding and swimming in the arctic food-rich waters. In December they swim south at five knots, or about five miles per hour. Until March they live in the warm waters off Mexico. Tourists love to watch them off the Mexico seashore. They are easy to spot since whales swim twenty-four hours a day, and Pacific Grays are forty to fifty feet long weighing fifty thousand to sixty thousand pounds.

Every year these whales breed, give birth, and raise their calves in the lagoons off the coast of Mexico. These lagoons, however, have been threatened by a salt company wanting to expand into the area. The problem is that the salt deposits would fill up the lagoons. More salt in the lagoons could be harmful to the whales and would probably kill the smaller fish the whales feed on.

The salt company intends to expand because the demand for salt is rising as the world’s population rises. Nearly everyone needs a balanced amount of salt to stay healthy.

The Mexican government wants the salt company to expand in order to bring more jobs and money to the area. But the Mexican environmental agency and international groups are against the expansion because it could endanger the whales.

The world waits to see whether Mexico will choose pesos or whales, business or the environment. People need jobs and whales need lagoons. What would you do?

Answer the question below.


Tourists probably have the opinion that whale watching is

A. more important than the salt industry.
B. protected by the government.
C. happening off all shorelines.
D. an excellent reason to visit Mexico.

Answer 1

A. More important than the salt industry

Answer 2

A

Step-by-step explanation:

The tourists don't care about salt companies. They're tourists! They're there to enjoy themself, nothing more, nothing less.