Question

melissa lives in a town called greendale. she discovers that when she lights a match and holds it near her kitchen faucet, the little flame grows into a larger fire. melissa is surprised because she thought the water would extinguish the flame rather than ignite it further. her mother tells her that the water might be contaminated with dissolved methane, a primary component in natural gas. melissa investigates the matter and finds that cases of methane contamination started shortly after a company began fracking for natural gas in the area.
based on this information, which three statements are plausible consequences of fracking in greendale?

☐ fracking contributed to methane finding its way into the residential water supply.
☐ fracking is always safe to use in the proximity of greendale’s water supply.
☐ pressure from fracking forced methane to mix with greendale’s groundwater.
☐ fracking in greendale produces more freshwater than it consumes.
☐ if fracking can contaminate city water, it might also poison nearby rivers.

Explanation:

1. For "Fracking contributed to methane finding its way into the residential water supply": The text says methane contamination started after fracking began, so this is plausible as fracking likely led to methane in water.
2. For "Pressure from fracking forced methane to mix with Greendale’s groundwater": Fracking involves pressure changes, and the contamination timing links fracking pressure to methane - groundwater mixing, making this plausible.
3. For "If fracking can contaminate city water, it might also poison nearby rivers": If fracking contaminates city water (groundwater - based), it's reasonable to infer it could affect nearby surface water like rivers, as water systems are connected.

The other options are not plausible: "Fracking is always safe..." is wrong as contamination occurred. "Fracking in Greendale produces more freshwater..." has no support in the text.

Answer:

1. Fracking contributed to methane finding its way into the residential water supply
2. Pressure from fracking forced methane to mix with Greendale’s groundwater
3. If fracking can contaminate city water, it might also poison nearby rivers