In the following passage, there are blanks, each of which has been numbered. These numbers are printed below the passage and against each, four words are suggested, one of which fits the blank appropriately. Find out the appropriate word in each case.
Pests are any organisms that are considered, from the (75) of humans, to be undesirable in some ecological context. For example, pests could be insects that compete with humans for some common resource, such as agricultural production or timber. Other pests might be (76) with diseases of humans, livestock, or agricultural plants. Pests could also be unwanted weeds that compete with agricultural plants for necessary resources. Or pests may merely have aesthetics that are viewed as undesirable, as is the case of weeds in a lawn.
When pests are abundant enough to cause damage that is considered to be (77), the abundance of the pests may be managed in some way. For example, if wolves are considered to be an important predator of livestock or wild ungulates, they may be killed by shooting them or using poisons. The most important reason for plowing in agriculture is to reduce the (78) of weeds. Often pesticides are used, for example, to protect crops and livestock from diseases and depredations by fungi, insects, mites, nematodes, or rodents, to protect crop plants from competition with weeds, or to protect humans against the insect vectors of disease- causing pathogens. There are (79) benefits to humans of the use of most pest- management strategies.
It is important to understand, however, that the very species that are considered pests may have desirable attributes in other contexts, or their values may at least be neutral. Therefore, whether an organism is viewed as a pest is entirely a matter of (80), and the criteria generally focus on the needs and perspectives of humans.
This question refers to blank (75) in the passage above.
