Read the excerpt from Silent Spring . Yet every one of these disasters has actually happened somewhere, and many real communities have already suffered a substantial number of them. A grim specter has crept upon us almost unnoticed, and this imagined tragedy may easily become a stark reality we all shall know. Which words and phrases from the excerpt best support the author’s purpose of creating a sense of alarm about the environment? Choose three correct answers.
“Tragedy,” “grim specter,” and “stark reality” use emotionally charged language to make environmental disasters seem frightening and serious. Together, these phrases warn that an imagined disaster could become a real one. “Actually” and “almost unnoticed” add information and atmosphere, but they are less directly alarming.
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