|Question 5Verbal

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Establishing protected areas (PAs), such as the Mamanuca Islands in Fiji, is a common conservation strategy, but because PAs restrict some kinds of economic activity, it's widely thought that they hinder economic development. This perception is driven in part by the fact that economic assessments often don't capture the indirect effects of tourism linked to PAs. But Hasita Bhammar et al. found that tourism associated with the Mamanuca Islands boosts local demand for goods and services in other economic sectors, resulting in increased income from retail in nearby areas.
Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?
It explains how PAs typically affect economic development in the regions where they are established, summarizes the findings of several economic studies that support this explanation, and then concedes that a particular PA is an exception to the general trend.
A
It introduces a widely held belief about the effect PAs have on the economy, proposes a reason for that belief's prevalence, and then details a study whose findings seemingly conflict with that belief.
B
It makes a generalization about the difficulty of using PAs to reconcile economic and conservation priorities, demonstrates why most PAs fall short of achieving that goal, and then holds up a particular PA as an example of how that goal can be achieved.
C
It states a hypothesis that accounts for why PAs generally negatively impact local economies, outlines how a research team's findings support that hypothesis, and then suggests how a novel methodology led a separate team of researchers to a different conclusion.
D