Item 7 Read the excerpt from “Choose a Sunscreen Right for Reefs.”

Why should you choose to wear reef-safe sunscreen? First, because reef-safe sunscreen does not contain two chemicals: oxybenzone and octinoxate. In many sunscreens, these chemicals help to filter out or block the sun’s harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays. However, when they wash off in the ocean, they can be carried by the water to nearby coral reefs. Once there, these chemicals can damage the coral polyps. They can make it so the polyps cannot reproduce. They can also kill the algae on the reef. That then triggers a chain reaction. The polyps die, and animals such as parrot fish, which feed on the polyps, have nothing to eat. So they die, as well. Then those fish that eat parrot fish are robbed of their food, too. And once the food chain is broken in this way, it can spell disaster for the reef as a whole.

Question 1
Part A

Based on the information in the excerpt, what is the author’s point?

Reef-safe and regular sunscreens contain similar ingredients.

The chemicals in sunscreen are effective for protecting human skin from the sun’s rays.

By hurting coral polyps, the ingredients in regular sunscreen affect all species in the reef.

When sunscreen is released into the ocean, it spreads very quickly through water.
Question 2
Part B

Which evidence from the excerpt best supports the author’s point?

“In many sunscreens, these chemicals help to filter out or block the sun’s harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays.”

“That then triggers a chain reaction.”

“First, because reef-safe sunscreen does not contain two chemicals: oxybenzone and octinoxate.”

“Why should you choose to wear reef-safe sunscreen?"