which line from the passage demonstrates a cause/effect text structure?

Question

a. in the past scientists estimated the size of the great pacific garbage patch by hopping on a boat and trawling the trash with fine nets- nets originally designed for catching plankton
b. running these nets through the patch, which extends from california to hawaii was not only laborious it failed to catch big things like bottles and buoys
c. the netherlands based organization hired 18 ships to trawl at different spots across the whole patch
d. plastics tend to break down due to heat and sunlight exposure into small particles known as microplastics

Answer 1

The line that demonstrates a cause/effect text structure is:

d. plastics tend to break down due to heat and sunlight exposure into small particles known as microplastics.

This sentence shows a cause (heat and sunlight exposure) leading to an effect (the breakdown of plastics into microplastics).