Question

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. 3 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 nation’s water infrastructure—the pipes, treatment plants, and other critical components that deliver drinking water and remove and treat wastewater—is aging. 4 age and deterioration are taking a toll. every year across the country, there are approximately 240,000 water main breaks. as many as 75,000 yearly sanitary sewer overflows discharge three to ten billion gallons of untreated wastewater, leading to some 5,500 illnesses due to exposures to contaminated recreational waters. epa researchers are taking action to meet the challenges of the nation’s aging water infrastructure. how do paragraphs 3 and 4 support the claim that “age and deterioration are taking a toll” on the nation’s water infrastructure? a. by including statistics about pipes breaking and sewers leaking b. by including an explanation of the term infrastructure c. by providing details about illnesses caused by old pipes d. by providing the age of one particular pipe as an example

Explanation:

Paragraphs 3 and 4 mention the age of a particular pipe and then provide statistics about water - main breaks, sewer overflows, and related illnesses. These statistics about pipes breaking and sewers leaking support the claim that age and deterioration are taking a toll on the nation's water infrastructure.

Answer:

A. by including statistics about pipes breaking and sewers leaking