Question

aging water infrastructure
the environmental protection agency (epa) researchers and engineers work to help communities deal with aging and failing drinking and wastewater systems.
on the morning of december 23, 2008, drivers in suburban maryland were confronted with a torrent of water rushing down river road. somewhere beneath the pavement, a sixty - six - inch water main ruptured, allowing some 150,000 gallons per minute to cascade onto the road in standing waves three to four feet high. rescue crews launched from boat, fire engine, and helicopter were able to rescue all stranded motorists and their passengers. luckily no one was hurt.
following a four - month forensic investigation, the washington suburban sanitary commission determined the cause of the water main break could be traced back to its original installation in 1965.
at forty - three years of age, the pipe lurking beneath river road was relatively young compared to many still in use in areas of the country that are easily twice that age, or older. the nations water infrastructure—the pipes, treatment plants, and other critical components that deliver drinking water and remove and treat wastewater—is aging.
which quote from the text provides relevant support for the claim that new technologies can help avoid \a potential $500 billion gap in funding by the year 20
a. \the program supports epa’s larger sustainable water infrastructure initiative, which guides efforts to change how the nation views, values, manages, and invests in its water infrastructure.\
b. \engineers and scientists... are working to address the challenges of aging water infrastructures by reducing the cost and increasing the effectiveness of... infrastructure.\
c. \the nation’s water infrastructure—the pipes, treatment plants, and other critical components that deliver drinking water and remove and treat wastewater—is aging.\
d. \the agency’s report, clean water and drinking water infrastructure gap analysis is a comprehensive assessment of the difference between needs and spending on

Explanation:

The claim is about new technologies helping avoid a funding gap. Option B mentions engineers and scientists working to address aging water infrastructure by reducing cost and increasing effectiveness, which directly relates to the idea of new - tech helping with funding issues. Options A, C, and D do not directly address the role of new technologies in avoiding the funding gap.

Answer:

B. "Engineers and scientists . . . are working to address the challenges of aging water infrastructures by reducing the cost and increasing the effectiveness of . . . infrastructure."