Question

How did we reach this breaking point? One cause of overfishing has been a cavalier attitude toward the earth's oceans. Fishers and fishing fleets saw oceans full of fish and concluded that the oceans were inexhaustible. They treated the oceans as if their actions would have no future consequences. Take as many fish as you want; throw out or kill what you do not want; do whatever harm you want: these attitudes have all too often ruled the seas. Currently, only 1.6% of our oceans are protected through international agreements; no fishing is allowed within these areas. Fishing is regulated in approximately one-third of the earth's seas, under national or international laws. However, the vast majority of our planet's waters are an unprotected free-for-all.

What is the meaning of the word cavalier as it is used in paragraph 3 of the passage?


proud


remorseful


indifferent


scornful

Answer 1

indifferent

(The passage describes a careless, unconcerned attitude — treating oceans as inexhaustible and ignoring future consequences.)