… Monsoons are relied upon throughout the

country to provide water for growing crops.

Heavy monsoons, however, can bring floods that

often have a high death toll. These floods have

been exacerbated [made worse] by deforestation

of the hills for industrial and agricultural

purposes. It is a fine balance between having

plenty of water to flood the rice fields and having

too much so that crops, homes, and even lives are

lost. The alternative to the floods may be famines.

However, India’s infrastructure can now deal

successfully with these: When the monsoon fails

in one area, the army is able to move supplies to

the drought-stricken area. As a result of this

organization, few lives were lost in the

Maharashtra famines of 1965–66 and 1974–75,

while more than two million people died in the

Bengal famine of 1943.

—Louise Nicholson, National Geographic Traveler:

India, 2007


Based on this passage, how have the negative

effects of the monsoons been reduced in recent

years?

(1) The army is building dams to hold back the

floods.

(2) Farmers have begun to grow crops that

require less water.

(3) Home construction in flood areas has been

controlled by government regulations.

(4) An improved infrastructure makes it possible

to bring supplies to areas in need of help