| Line | The argument for monetizing—or putting a | |
| monetary value on—ecosystem functions may be | ||
| stated thus: Concern about the depletion of natural | ||
| resources is widespread, but this concern, in the | ||
| (5) | absence of an economic argument for conservation, | |
| has not translated into significant conservational | ||
| progress. Some critics blame this impasse on | ||
| environmentalists, whom they believe fail to address | ||
| the economic issues of environmental degradation. | ||
| (10) | Conservation can appear unprofitable when compared | |
| with the economic returns derived from converting | ||
| natural assets (pristine coastlines, for example) into | ||
| explicitly commercial ones (such as resort hotels). | ||
| But according to David Pearce, that illusion stems | ||
| (15) | from the fact that services provided by ecological | |
| systems are not traded on the commodities market, | ||
| and thus have no readily quantifiable value. To | ||
| remedy this, says Pearce, one has to show that all | ||
| ecosystems have economic value—indeed, that all | ||
| (20) | ecological services are economic services. Tourists | |
| visiting wildlife preserves, for example, create | ||
| jobs and generate income for national economies; | ||
| undisturbed forests and wetlands regulate water | ||
| runoff and act as water-purifying systems, saving | ||
| (25) | millions of dollars worth of damage to property | |
| and to marine ecosystems. In Gretchen Dailys | ||
| view, monetization, while unpopular with many | ||
| environmentalists, reflects the dominant role that | ||
| economic considerations play in human behavior, | ||
| (30) | and the expression of economic value in a common | |
| currency helps inform environmental decision-making | ||
| processes. |

The flowchart represents a mathematical algorithm that takes two positive integers as the input and returns a positive integer as the output. Processes are indicated in the rectangular symbols in the flowchart. Each process is symbolized by an equation, such as T = T +a. In this particular process, the current values of the variables T and a are added together and the sum then becomes the value of T. For example, if the value ofT is 3 and the value of a is 7 before the process T = T +ais completed, then the value of T is 10 and the value of a is 7 after the process is completed.
Use the drop-down menus to fill in the blanks in the following statements based on the algorithm represented by the flowchart.
If 24 and 35 are entered as the values for a and b, respectively, then the first nonzero value of T is
If 35 and 27 are entered as the values for a and b, respectively, then after the process b =b/2is completed for the second time, the value of b is