VI. Choose the word or phrase - a, b, c or d - that best fits the blank space in the following passage.

The human population is set to exceed 9 billion within a few short decades. With this population increase comes an increase in food (36)_________, which leads to the extinction of many species as we further encroach on their habitats.

Some of the main (37)_________responsible for biodiversity loss are deforestation, the highly inefficient use of land and water for animal production, and the pollution of our waters. 17,000 species are currently under (38)_________of extinction, and almost a quarter of the mammals (39)_________extinction within 30 years. With the destruction of the rainforests in Brazil, largely for grazing and feed for livestock, 2,300 Brazilian flora species are (40)_________under threat.

The mass extinction we are experiencing now is a thousand times (41)_________ than the average rate over the last 65 million years. This is by no means a natural occurrence. Our Earth can no longer (42)_________ the demands we are putting upon her, and with a predicted increase of 2.5 billion people (43)_________ 2050, we cannot ignore that a solution to (44)_________the life threatening situation humanity is now facing (45)_________ be found and implemented as soon as possible.

With this population increase comes an increase in food (36)_________, which leads to the extinction of many species as we further encroach on their habitats.