It can be inferred from the passage that impermeable urban surfaces:

Accelerating urban sprawl has historically fragmented wildlife habitats into isolated, ecologically impoverished islands surrounded by impermeable asphalt and concrete. To reverse severe biodiversity attrition, landscape architects and conservation biologists are championing urban rewilding: the deliberate re-establishment of natural ecological succession and vegetative permeability within metropolitan zones. A cornerstone strategy is the construction of contiguous wildlife corridors, including vegetated green bridges over ring roads, daylighted streams, and uninterrupted pollinator highways along abandoned railway easements. These corridors facilitate genetic exchange among previously segregated animal populations, mitigate urban heat island phenomena through evapotranspirative cooling, and enhance stormwater retention during cloudbursts.

Answer and explanation

Correct answer: B. Obstruct natural water absorption and exacerbate flash flooding during storms.

  1. Step 1: Review how the passage characterizes the physical environment created by urban sprawl ("impermeable asphalt and concrete") and the problems addressed by rewilding.
  2. Step 2: Because asphalt and concrete are described as "impermeable" and rewilding aims to restore "vegetative permeability" and "enhance stormwater retention during cloudbursts," it can be directly inferred that impermeable paving blocks natural soil water absorption and worsens surface water runoff.
Answer
Obstruct natural water absorption and exacerbate flash flooding during storms.

Practise more Academic Reading: Environment and Society.

Free questions with an explanation for every one, and full timed IELTS mock tests.

All Academic Reading: Environment and Society questionsTake a mock test

More Academic Reading: Environment and Society questions