Paragraph D mentions that runoff causes issues, but the text does not discuss government laws or political actions regarding the matter. Key Vocabulary to Remember

The process of turning from liquid into vapor.

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Beyond climate, direct human intervention is devastating lake ecosystems. Agricultural irrigation accounts for 70–80% of global freshwater withdrawals, often diverting rivers that feed lakes. The Aral Sea—once the fourth-largest lake in the world—has shrunk to 10% of its original volume due to cotton irrigation in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. Similarly, the Dead Sea is receding at over one meter per year due to potash mining and upstream water diversion. Unsustainable groundwater pumping further lowers water tables, causing lakes to drain into aquifers below.

Shrunk dramatically due to irrigation. Exposed from the lake floor is carried up to 300km by wind, damaging surrounding agriculture. Lake Tanganyika East Africa

Excessive richness of nutrients in a lake, frequently due to runoff from the land, which causes a dense growth of plant life and death of animal life from lack of oxygen.

Test makers rarely use the exact words from the question in the passage. Instead, they rely heavily on paraphrasing.

For educators and students, this reading comprehension exercise serves as a call to awareness. The next time you see an algal bloom or a shrinking shoreline, you now have the vocabulary and the data to describe why—and the knowledge that without rapid action, the answers to future “lake under threat” questions will be far more dire.