Select the correct answer. Read the first two paragraphs of an essay about endangered animals. What is the relationship between the two paragraphs?
According to the Center for Biological Diversity, 30–50 percent of all endangered animals may be extinct within the next 30 years. The Endangered Species Act of 1973 works to protect endangered species by making it illegal to capture, harm, or shoot any animal that is endangered. Unfortunately, human activity continues to be one of the leading causes of extinction.
Tigers are on the endangered species list. There were roughly 100,000 tigers around the world in the early 1900s. Now there are fewer than 4,000. With tiger poachers, undocumented tigers in captivity, and tiger products on sale in the black market, the tiger population will continue to decline.
A. The first and second paragraphs show events happening in sequential order.
B. The first paragraph provides background information for the second paragraph. C. The second paragraph contrasts the information provided in the first paragraph.
D. The first paragraph describes the cause, and the second paragraph explores the effect.
E. The second paragraph offers a solution for the problem in the first paragraph.